Foreign Relations: Skyfall
by ghanimajade
Summary: Part Four of Foreign Relations, the Reaper invasion is here. Sidda and the team race to stop the long dreaded Reaper invasion and deal with deep personal losses and mistakes. Last part of Foreign Relations. Space/Adept/War Hero Shepard. Lots of OCs. I do not own Mass Effect.
1. Chapter 1: Vakarian-1

_**Note: Hello all, and welcome to Part Four: Skyfall! This chapter is brought to you by a very persistent common cold which gave me the downtime to finish it. I enjoyed writing this chapter and going a new way with the start of Mass Effect 3. Lots of soundtrack in store for this part to name a few **_

_**Skyfall - Adele  
Reignite - Malukah (best Mass Effect song ever)  
Dream On - Aerosmith  
I'm Only Human - Rag 'n' Bone Man  
White Flag - Bishop Briggs  
**_

_**This chapter specifically was written to Battlestar Galactica season 2 soundtrack Prelude to War and Martial Law. **_

_**Thank you all for your support, favorites, follows, and feedback. It is all appreciated and you are all the best. :) **_

_**Please enjoy Part Four Chapter One: Vakarian-1**_

**Mass Effect**  
"Foreign Relations"

**Part Four: Skyfall**

**Chapter One: Vakarian-1**

_**Orbit**_

Rylo was guarded by a division of the Imperium's 8th Fleet and maintained a permanent presence with the colony. Rylo was in the worst place for being a 'bread-basket' colony so they made sure the military presence was strong. A dozen ships in conjunction with the Orbital Station, defense platform, and Mass Relay Outpost protected the important little colony.

The 8th Fleet's 3rd Division consisted of twelve ships that served two years before rotating out. The _Canrum_ was the current flagship, a heavy cruiser named for the victory that defeated Warlord Shiagur. This was the third iteration of the _Canrum_ as the first one was decommissioned and then rechristened almost twenty years ago then was destroyed at the Citadel. This _Canrum_ was brand new, two years old and top of the line. Her current Captain was the commander of the 3rd Division, Captain Lorn Kavaius of the Imperial Navy. This also made him the commander of the Orbital Garrison; Carric Base and the Relay Outpost all reported to him. The commanding officer of the colonies defenses was General Jacen Veliraka, a veteran of the Relay 314 Incident.

Among the rest of the Division was the cruisers the _Pontius_ and the _Digeris,_ three destroyers _Shinjar, Volstol, _and the _Artimus_,three heavy frigates the _Vaes, Reliant,_ and the _Zeralla_, and then three more light frigates _Havincaw, Estallus, _and_ Currazza._ The only ship that wasn't under his command was the _Defiant_. She was there with her Captain Dureena Sevescus and a Spectre who was visiting home.

Kavaius was tall with grey skin and yellow Digeris paint on his mandibles, his claim to fame was his even temperament. Nothing riled him…not even combat. His mentor was the legendary Fleet Admiral Irix Coronati and it showed, he conducted himself very much like Coronati and that earned him his post. Kavaius was young, barely 35, but he commanded the defense of a very important little colony.

"Captain," his sensor officer began. "getting some strange readings in the sector."

His manner was calm and unhurried, it was said that if Kavaius yelled it meant someone was getting court-martialed. "What is it, Lieutenant?"

"I don't know. There's a strange power spike…never seen anything like it." Kavaius didn't do well with vague explanations but he spent a lot of time training his crew, if they didn't understand something there was usually a reason.

"Let's see it." The Lieutenant complied and tapped a few keys. There was a power signature, a massive one. He cocked his head to the huge reading indicated on the screen. "Identify."

"Working." The _Canrum's_ VI was already checking and it came up with a flagged entry. The red label underscored the threat level, but it was the name attached to the file and to all the files related to it. Invasion. For a moment Kavaius' finely honed military mind blanked, the sort of thing that happens when the unthinkable comes to fruition. "Battle stations." He ordered and turned away quickly to address the comm station. "Emergency alert to the fleet and Carric Base: Threat Level Red. Spin up all weapons and prepare to launch fighters."

"Threat level red? Sir, what is it?" his second in command, Commander Gaius Ackin asked.

"Reapers." He answered. "Garrus was right. Get me Veliraka."

Ackin had worked with Kavaius for a long time and saw something he couldn't remember ever seeing. Worry.

His comm officer swiveled in her seat. "Sir, incoming from the _Pontius_." The cruiser _Pontius _was posted at the relay along with the frigate _Reliant_. _"Canrum, relay activation. Unknown vessels."_

Kavaius simply bounced from station to station. "Caelius, _Canrum_ actual, how many?"

Caelius Oraka commanded the _Pontius_, he was Kavaius' least favorite under his command but as obnoxious as he was the son of the legendary Septimus Oraka knew his trade. He was a very good commander. _"Five and counting…they look like Reapers…you know from the briefing."_

"I know." He replied. "Hold that relay."

The CIC was a flurry of action and right now the communication station was the busiest. "Veliraka for you, Sir."

Kavaius scanned displays as he still hadn't stopped since he put the Division on alert. "Jacen, Threat Level Red…enemy incursion."

"_Say again?"_ the response was quick and clearly full of alarm.

"Threat Level Red…this is it." He repeated. Threat Level Red was an invasion code. The last time it was on everyone's mind was Relay 314, this time it was a little-known report from a former C-Sec Officer named Garrus Vakarian. This report detailed plans for tactical response and evacuation incase the sinister race known as Reapers weren't just rumors or myths. "Now six enemy contacts and counting. Reaper contacts. Vakarian –1 authorized." Kavaius paused before continuing almost like he couldn't believe what he was saying. "We are preparing to engage…we'll keep you updated."

The General understood this, they'd drilled it, reviewed it. Vakarian-1 was the code for the Reaper Invasion. _"Good hunting, Canrum. Veliraka, out."_

* * *

It took less than two minutes for Rylo's orbital defense to muster for the emergency alert. All ships reported in, inundating the _Canrum's_ comm officer with status', the base on Carric was powered up with its defenses and with that the defense platform for the planet's orbit. Even the _Reliant _and the _Pontius_ managed to report but it wasn't promising. They had been hit first but so far no one was destroyed. Eleven ships in Rylo's orbit assumed defensive positions and Kavaius was indeed proud of them all.

The reason Kavaius bypassed a skirmish altogether and went straight for the evacuation was because of the report filed by Vakarian. Most brushed it off as the lunacy of a disgraced Spectre's groupie but Kavaius did not. He knew Garrus, not well but enough to get a sense of him, this story was too far-fetched to be made up. He read the report, over and over, studied the ship known as Sovereign and the fire power it took to knock it out.

He wasn't at the Citadel when it was attacked but the Turian fleet was the most formidable in the galaxy, add to that the Asari and the Alliance and they should have been fucking unbreakable but that unknown 'Geth' ship walked right through them. "Tactical."

The word wasn't a question per say, it was an order and shorthand at that. The Tactical station was already buzzing. All the displays had something on them, scans of the ships, a scan that the VI was clearly combing through to find weaknesses and there was also the entry about Sovereign up. "Scanning. Seven confirmed vessels, five on approach, two still at the relay. The _Pontius_ and _Reliant_ have engaged. Sir, I've never seen anything like this."

Kavaius began as a Tactical officer on the _Undaunted_ which was commanded, then, by Darius Acadas. "Every ship has a weakness, Rey, find it." He said in an even but firm tone. "Comms, can you get a line out to Palaven?"

There was a pause before the communication station answered him. "Too much interference, the buoys are clogged. I can't get anything out."

"Keep working on it. We have to get a message to Palaven or at least the Citadel."

"Yes, Sir."

The Reapers met the 3rd Division and promptly opened fire. Barriers held against the volley and the _Zeralla _returned fire first. The Thanix Cannon didn't do much damage and that was troublesome. The benefit to fire being exchanged was that tactical was getting all that they needed to find the weak spot.

"Rey," Kavaius warned again. "find me a target that's worth something." Wasting firepower was against his training. Coronati taught him to only shoot if they intended to damage or destroy. Right now, his entire division was letting them have a volley and nothing was happening. Thanix Cannons were stellar weapons, reverse engineered from Sovereign's gun and they weren't doing enough damage.

The _Canrum_ rocked as it's barriers held against a blast from the Reapers but the impact was felt. "Direct hit. Minimal damage…barriers are holding but their weapons are powerful. I don't think we can take many more hits like that." Ackin reported and Kavaius turned his attention to the tactical station.

His aggravation reared its head. His orders weren't being carried out fast enough. "Lieutenant Rey," he snapped firmly.

"Got it." She replied. "Firing chamber. Excessive power build-up; wait until it charges, hit it, and that's your kill shot."

"_Every ship has a weak point."_ The words from his mentor rang in his mind. "Weaps?"

His weapons officer was already on it. He had the computer targeting before the word left Kavaius' mouth. "Got the solution."

"Full power to the Thanix and fire." Being brand new this was the _Canrum's_ first battle. She was top of the line with a robust core which translated to tougher barriers, her skin was tougher as well augmented with Reaper tech, the Thanix Cannon equipped on the _Canrum_ was the strongest in the current serving fleet, but the better upgrade was her GARDIAN laser. The GARDIAN was more effective at shorter range it was like a ship to ship knife fight and was too far away to use effectively. The Thanix fired and hit right where it was aimed. The reaper exploded and the CIC cheered.

"Direct hit! You got him, Sir!" someone yelled proudly.

It was a good feeling. To destroy something so big and powerful would thrill anyone and that included Kavaius. He let it sink in a moment before returning to his game face. "Focus. That may not work twice."

"Incoming from the _Pontius_." His comm officer said and didn't wait for the instruction to play it.

The _Pontius_ transmission was distorted, there was a lot of interference between them and the _Canrum_. _"Three more just came through the relay. Canrum, we cannot, repeat, cannot hold the relay. We are taking heavy damage."_

If they lost the relay, they lost the system. Plain and simple. "_Pontius, _you hold that relay as long as possible." Kavaius ordered. The _Pontius_ wasn't a heavy cruiser and it was the oldest in 3rd Division but the Turians built them to last. In the right hands they could do just about anything. Kavaius knew that Caelius was grumbling on the other end but after a pause he got a response.

"_We'll give it our all. Pontius, out."_ He replied with the tone that Kavaius was used to and ignored.

_**Groundside**_

Nov had been returned to Rylo as a quick detour after closing out a mission for the Council, they were still sending him to far flung areas but this time he was requested by the Batarians. He was the only Turian welcomed in the Batarian system…that was until they figured out who he was married to. He kept that part a generous secret because once they found out his worm welcome would turn to ice. The ship that took him there was the frigate _Defiant_, smaller and more heavily armed then the _Lante_ but the best part was a long lost friend was there. Now Captain Deliah Kryik.

"So how's married life?" She asked as they walked through Kiptivo Base from the landing pad.

Nov missed Sidda. He remembered the last time he woke up next to her, Earth almost two weeks ago. He didn't like living on Earth as he would rather be right here on Rylo but his home was wherever she was. "I love it. Love her." He replied and Deliah chuckled softly to his tone. She remembered that sentiment. "Can't wait to start a family. If she was Turian she'd be pregnant by now."

"You really want kids that bad?"

"I want kids with _her_ that bad."

"Turian/Human baby…never been one of them."

"Well, if anyone can figure it out it's Mordin." He said and she chuckled.

Veliraka had asked Nov to come back and speak to a few of the newer recruits before they returned to the _Defiant_ and then were most of the way to the designated location when the alarm sounded. "What the hell?" Nov asked. The alarm was something any Turian was used to, the base alert.

"_All hands to stations. This is not a drill. I repeat, enemy contact in orbit. All hands report to stations. This is not a drill."_

They looked at each other with the same expression. Confusion. "Enemy contact?" Deliah commented. "What the fuck?" Rylo's location meant that an enemy contact in orbit wasn't uncommon but this didn't sound normal. It was the sound in the voice of the man on the intercom. Panic.

"Probably more raiders." Nov commented. "It happens here. Once in a while some dumbass pirate crew thinks they can take on the 3rd Division."

"Spectre," the base second in command called. Something wasn't right with this alert, it felt different. "The General wants to see you immediately." At that point the soldiers around them began to run to their stations.

"What's going on?" Nov asked as both he and Deliah noticed the sense of panic in the air.

"The 3rd has engaged an enemy fleet in orbit." He answered as they rushed quickly through the base to Veliraka's location. "Spectre Nov for you, Sir."

"What the hell is going on?" he asked and Veliraka tapped the screen.

"Where's your wife, Nov?" Veliraka asked and Nov cocked his head to the question then turned his attention to the screen. "She just got her vindication."

Nov felt like he'd been kick in the stomach. "Is that now?"

"Live feed directly from the _Canrum_. Seven confirmed hostiles engaged with the 3rd." Veliraka replied. "Kavaius ordered planetary evac. The governor is issuing a planet wide alert. I want you two and the _Defiant's_ shuttle to help with the evac of the civilians."

Seven Reaper ships…that explained the extreme sense of panic in the air. Turians didn't panic, they kept their cool and remained disciplined no matter what was thrown at them. He could see the panic now. That also explained the evacuation order. "Yes, Sir." Deliah responded instead of Nov and it made him blink out of his own mind.

"We've drilled it and the civilians know the evacuation sites." Veliraka continued.

The shock of it fell back and his training took over. His homeworld was under attack by the very thing his wife had been warning the galaxy about. "Rural areas will be harder. We'll start with Panop and its outpost." It was a thinly veiled plan; he wanted to go and make sure his family was safe. No one argued with him.

_**Orbit**_

The orbital defenses did a good job of stopping the Reapers from going further. A stalemate, as it were but it didn't last forever. The Reapers were outnumbered but they were far superior to the Turians. The defense platform was doing its damage but that made just made it the biggest target.

An explosion lit up the CICs view screen. "Sir," Ackin began and then hesitated. "Carric."

The 3rd Divisions headquarters was in pieces. The Reapers concentrated fire on the base to knock out the troublesome defense grid. A few sustained blasts from their awesome weaponry blew the base to kingdom come. There were people everyone on board knew on that base and it had been in commission for over 75 years. Kavaius felt the loss but bottled it up, he had a fight to participate in…and most likely lose. "Alright, everyone, stay focused. Weaps, emergency override: transfer defense platform control to your station."

"Already on it, Captain, Weaps is double hot." The weapons officer reported.

"Incoming fighters." Rey announced.

"Target the GARDIAN and fire." He ordered. Now, Kavaius had to quickly assess the rapidly deteriorating situation. They were going to lose this fight and he knew it; the evacuation order was given and he could see transports moving just as it had been practiced. Reapers were going to land on the planet and he needed to give them a bigger threat. He needed to get their attention and draw them away from the planet so the civilian ships could engage their cores and escape.

"Helm," he called cutting through any chatter that may have been going on as he through of the next move for a moment. "Activate the Mass Effect core." He ordered.

"Sir?" the pilot questioned and Kavaius growled.

He didn't have time to explain but he realized the fact that some may not have been the strategist he was. His mind was his own and they couldn't read it. "Now! Put us behind them." He repeated and leaned on the CIC console. "Jump us in close. We need them to turn and focus on us. Feed the FTL telemetry to the _Vaes _and the _Havincaw_." He continued and keyed the comm button at his station. "Challa, Yannik, _Canrum_ actual, feeding you FTL coordinates you need to follow us in. We need to be the biggest target; they have to turn and fight us."

The two captains of the frigates replied in their own way. Challa in her clear and even tone and Yannik in his signature 'understood'.

Kavaius needed at least some of them to turn and fight an enemy at their back so he pulled a page from Coronati's strategic arsenal. If he got some of them to turn it would divide the Reapers leaving some of them for a frigate, a heavy frigate, and a heavy cruiser and the rest of the Reapers for the rest of the 3rd to take care of. The _Vaes, Havincaw, _and _Canrum_ completed their jump and landed directly behind the Reapers and immediately began their turn.

"Four of them took the bait, Sir." Rey reported as Weapons began to immediately search for a firing solution. "They're turning. We'll be in position before they are." The Reapers were huge, bigger than the _Canrum_ by a long shot so the Turian's could turn faster.

The distance was close and that was by design. The GARDIAN was best at close range so they needed to turn this fight into a brawl. "Pick a target and fire the GARDIAN."

* * *

Sevescus had the _Defiant_ doing swift hit and runs on the Reapers and saw the three ship make the jump. She knew Kavaius, she knew him well and knew that was a play that Coronati taught him. He was dividing the enemy. "Keep the pressure up." She ordered her crew then keyed the comm system in the CIC. "_Canrum_, this is the _Defiant_."

He was focused and kept himself cool in the face of it all. _"Dureena, don't worry about us. Make sure they don't reach the planet."_ Kavaius ordered. His voice was professional and firm. This wasn't Lorn this was Captain Kavaius. _"And protect the civilian transports."_

She wanted to respond with something other than 'yes, sir'. She'd known Kavaius for a long time and been in a relationship with him for a long time too, but he was the boss right now so she did as instructed. "Yes, Sir."

Making sure the Reapers didn't reach the planet wasn't something that was in the cards. One of them screamed past the 3rd Division and landed at Rosha, Rylo's capital just as Kavaius had order her to make sure it didn't happen. The _Defiant_ could function in the atmosphere so she followed them in. If she could draw them off the planet it would help protect the civilians below.

"Helm, pursuit course. Take us in." she ordered.

"Copy that, Captain."

"Signal from the _Currazza_. They're flanking and following us." Her first officer said and Sevescus nodded. Help from another Lycan cruiser would be fine, they were light frigates, but they could do some damage since they were designed for something just like this.

_**Groundside**_

The base was organized but Nov saw only one thing, his home in chaos and the overwhelming feeling of dread. Fighters were in the air, alarms were sounding, and he could see that there were civilians beginning the evacuation already. Nov barely registered anything as the _Defiant's_ shuttle sped to the Panop military post. The evacuation site for this area.

It was underway when the shuttle landed. Military and civilian transports were landing and beginning the evacuation plan. Nov and Deliah were in full battle gear and there to help with the evacuation. At the station were a few people that he recognized. Darius and the outpost commander, Lieutenant Verrity.

"Cal!" Darius called

"Darius!" Nov called back. "Where's my mom?"

"On the way. Pollux has her." He answered. "What's going on?"

"Reaper invasion."

"What?"

"We're under attack!" he shouted back sounding annoyed. "Where's Fav and Nisia?"

"Inside."

"Cal," Verrity called as he approached. The Turian was a big guy anyway but now the soldier was in full heavy armor carrying a Krysae. He looked like a nightmare. He went to school with Verrity…didn't always get along with him. He was a bully and he was mean, but boot camp smoothed him out a little bit. He was still an asshole though. "Vakarian-1 that's that so-called Reaper invasion?"

"Not so-called anymore. Full-fledged battle in orbit with the 3rd." Nov replied. It was hard to grasp he gave them that but he was having trouble staying focused when he was worried about his mother and worried about Sid…wherever she was right now.

A fireball landed hard near the landing pad and Nov cocked his head. Darius, Deliah, Verrity, and Nov took a step closer to see what it was or rather what came out of the lava bombs. "What the fuck?" Darius asked as creatures rose from the fire.

They weren't husks but they bore a resemblance and they looked a little like a Batarian. "Reapers." Nov answered. "They're not Husks but they're definitely Reapers." He added and opened fire on them. The others followed suit, but they weren't easy to put down. They just kept coming.

More bombs rained down and Nov was starting to put their invasion together. Attack from orbit and put troops on the ground. They didn't have troop transports…just molten bombs they crawled out of.

* * *

A sonic boom nearly knocked Nov off his feet. Something huge had to have entered the atmosphere to cause that and just as the though crossed his mind two Lycan class frigates screamed overhead at an altitude so close he could read the names off the side. The _Defiant_ and the _Currazza,_ crewed by 40 souls each and designed for fast attack/recon and atmospheric operations. If they were in the atmosphere that meant an enemy ship must have touched down somewhere.

"_Defiant_ and the _Currazza_." He commented and then looked at Deliah.

"If they're down here…" Darius began but left the sentence hang.

"Yeah, yeah, we're fucked." Nov finished and then keyed his mic. "Pol, where the hell are you?"

"_On the way."_ His cousin answered quietly.

"More coming." Deliah shouted.

Fighters were added to the aerial battle as the sky above them got loud and crowded. The frigates made passes a few times and each time they headed back toward Rosha. It was the capital and made sense that the Reapers would land there. Panop may have been a two-hour trip by skycar but the frigates made it in minutes. Weapons fire in the atmosphere was also heard, not the ground cannons but Thanix cannons and mass accelerators from the frigates caused a sound like it was end of the world each time they were fired. The distinctive sound delay of the Thanix cannon as it displaced everything in its path could be heard from nearly anywhere on the planet. One such discharge of the Thanix happened right over them and the crack that reported after it was fired was almost enough to pop their ear drums. What they were firing at curbed any bad blood between those on the ground and those in the air. The _Currazza _fired the Thanix and vaporized a dozen incoming Oculus', Reaper orb fighters.

"I owe that gunner a beer." Nov commented as his ears rang at a piercing pitch.

Darius' left ear was bleeding, and his head hurt immediately. "He owes me an eardrum." He grimaced.

Verrity slapped his helmet and cackled. "Plan ahead, Cal." He said and Nov told him to fuck off under his breath. In all honesty, Verrity and Deliah were the smart ones…the only two wearing helmets.

_**Orbit**_

The three Turian ships were successful in causing all kinds of trouble with for the Reapers. The _Canrum_'_s _GARDIAN alone was devastating but it wasn't going to last forever. Repeated use would burn it out and they were very close to doing just that. "We keep this up we're gonna burn up the GARDIAN, Sir." Ackin advised.

He nodded and directed his attention to weapons. "Disengage the GARDIAN. Full power to the Thanix Cannon."

A brilliant explosion was seen through the view screen as the two right 'fingers' of the _Havincaw's _target were blown away. "The _Havincaw_ scored a direct hit."

"Target the weak point with the Thanix and fire."

All three ship Kavaius had selected to come along were equipped with a GARDIAN and an upgraded Thanix though the _Canrum's_ was newer and more sophisticated. That being said, it was something to see with all three ships firing at once. The concentrated fire was doing it's damage but they wouldn't last forever. The _Canrum_ ceased using theirs to save it but the _Vaes _and the _Havincaw _were shredding their targets.

The moment was short lived, as all good moments in combat were, as the _Canrum_ rocked violently tossing anyone not secured into walls or stations. "Report!" Kavaius shouted over the alarm indicating there was a structural compromise.

"We lost the _Vaes_." The heavy frigate exploded right under them and managed to cause significant damage. "Major damage to the ventral and we're venting atmosphere." Ackin reported. "Engineering is reporting a breach and power loss…the core is offline."

The robust barriers were the only thing keeping them in the fight next to the GARDIAN. If the lighting in the CIC was better, they could have seen the color drain from his face. With the core down, they were dead. "Engineering, get me the barriers back, now." His tone was even but his entire crew knew him. One step off from a shout and they knew that was on the way.

The _Canrum's _armor did what it could without barriers against the laser from the Reapers but the blasts cut through like a knife through paper. Huge swaths of the heavy cruiser were being destroyed but the battleship held together. Turian battle ships were built to last in combat.

The seconds that ticked by felt like an eternity but power grid flickered, and the barrier came back online. "Core is back online. Barriers back to full but engineering is reporting substantial damage, no idea how long it's going to last. We have to fall back."

They weren't going to make it out of this, Kavaius figured that out at the beginning of the fight. His goal was to give the planet below as much time as he could to evacuate as many as they could. He knew that not everyone was going to get out and that the Veliraka and his troops would probably not evacuate with the civilians. "Nothing to fall back to." He muttered as the ship shook again. "We're not making it out of this. Full power to barriers and weapons, pull from life support if you need to. Target the damaged one with the GARDIAN and finish it off."

_**Groundside**_

The entire population of Panop could fit into two transports. Rylo was sparsely populated, only a handful of major cities and the rest were farmsteads. Nov worried about the people but cared more of his mother right now. His mother who still wasn't at the evacuation site.

"Pollux!" He barked into the comm and heard his cousin on the other end.

"_As fast as I can, Cal, stay off the comm."_ Pollux snapped back. The downside to living so far from town was it took too long to get anywhere.

"Hey, don't get snappy. Get here safe, sky's getting kinda full though." Between the Reapers, frigates, and fighters the skies above them were busy.

It didn't take long to realize that the 'drop pods' were going for the civilians. Whatever the bigger ones were the Husks Nov recognized. The soldiers of the outpost led by Verrity set up a perimeter to contain the incoming foot soldiers. The military was active and soon the outpost was fortified with more troop carriers and gunships.

One of the transports lifted off and made things even more impossible to hear. Nov briefly through of Sidda again, thinking about where she was and how she felt knowing that she was right when everyone else wouldn't listen. He did put it out of his mind as the head of a Husk about six feet away exploded. Distinctive wound and sound told him that it was a hit from the Krysae. The Turian Sniper rifle was new and so far, was second to none. Nov took cover and tuned into the communication feed, total chaos on the line but that was to be expected.

"It's not sounding good out there." He commented as Deliah took cover next to him.

"What did you expect for an invasion?" she asked and snorted. "You know I read all the stuff Sidda talked about…watched her Tribunal, thought she was insane and you were just and young fool in love."

"And now?" he asked as she reloaded his Mattock.

"Well, you're still a fool…but she's not insane." She replied and he chuckled. Disruptor rounds were useless, so he swapped to cryo.

"Missed you too, D." he smiled, and she smiled back under her helmet.

_**Orbit**_

They had destroyed three Reapers all together since the fight started. The _Canrum_ took out two, the _Vaes_ downed one before being destroyed along with it, and it was reported that the _Digeris_ destroyed another. Kavaius wasn't sure of the rest of the 3rd Divisions status aside from the two that he had with him. Losing the _Vaes_ and his long time friend Challa Veng was something he would deal with later…if he was lucky enough to survive this. That was doubtful. He hadn't had a report on the Relay either, ordering the _Pontius _and the _Reliant _to hold the relay at all costs was a tall order and he was pretty sure it would be their final act. He wasn't even sure how the _Defiant_ was. He loved Dureena but couldn't think about that now, if she was dead or if they both died here he would see her on the other side.

He could hear everything going on around him as he focused on the tactics. Ackin's voice cut through like a laser beam. "The _Havincaw's_ taken major damage, their barriers are barely holding."

He opened a comm channel as the _Canrum_ shook. "Yannick, get out of here, save your ship."

Yannick Litanas never backed down from a fight. _"Negative. We're in this fight."_

"That's an order, Commander. Retreat, now." He ordered and then the response that he barely heard. There was a lot of commotion going on in his CIC. The room had the stench of smoke and fear, but his crew was performing admirably. The alarm was still going off indicating heavy structural damage and hull breaches. He tuned it out as he watched the next Reaper hold up against his beautiful ship's laser. "Status of the evacuation?"

Ackin was already doing a million things at once and glanced at the monitor. "53% but that's only an estimate."

They still had two Reapers that they were entertaining. The rest were either on the planet or engaged with the _Digeris_ and the rest of the 3rd Division. "Status report on the rest of the fleet?"

There was a pause from Ackin before he answered. "Seven ships in orbit remaining including us. _Havincaw_ has taken severe damage and has fallen back. The _Reliant_ looks be disable but the beacon is still functioning. The _Digeris, Zeralla, and Artimus _still holding their own but are under heavy attack. _Pontius_ is in route from the relay. They couldn't hold it. _Defiant_ and _Currazza_ went planetside…no word."

The Reapers had more coming, the relay was lost, and the Turian's were dwindling. Their toughest ship was taking the beating of a lifetime but she wouldn't hold forever. "Status of fighters."

"40%. Most went to the surface or are covering the civilian escape." Rey reported. Kavaius' mind raced, the fighters were worthless against the big ships but effective against the smaller Reaper fighters.

"Core's losing power, barriers are fluctuating. We can't take much more of this, Lorn." Ackin said and Kaviaus could see the end.

"It doesn't matter." He muttered looking as monitors reflecting all the damage to his ship. "More incoming from the relay." He added quietly and accepted the _Canrum's_ fate.

"That's it for the GARDIAN. Laser's all used up." His weapons officer reported.

Once the laser burned out that was it. "All power to the core. Target the mass accelerator and Thanix and get that Reaper out of my sky." He was going to blow that Reaper up if it was the last thing he did. "Comms, broadband. Planet and fleet." He ordered. "This is Kavaius, terminate evacuation and retreat to rally point. We cannot hold the system. I repeat, we cannot hold the system."

Minutes ticked by but it felt like an eternity. The _Canrum_ shouldered more damage than any other ship should have and Kaviaus was immensely proud of that. "Sir, we can't retreat. What about all those people." He heard Ackin say.

"Giaus, in about two minutes it's not going to matter. It's part of the protocol." He replied. More Reapers were landing on the planet but that wasn't his problem, Veliraka would just need to handle it because the 3rd Division was going to be destroyed. "All hands: abandon ship. Repeat: All hands, abandon ship. CIC, evac to escape pods."

Not only had Kaviaus accepted his fate but his crew had as well. The _Canrum_ was serving it's purpose and had taken down several Reapers as did the rest of the 3rd Division. "No, Sir." The CIC crew responded in near unison. He didn't question it and they focused on their job.

The remaining ships followed Kavaius' unpopular order, they lost the relay and Carric which meant they lost the system. Now, no matter how much of a fight they put up it wouldn't matter. The whole point of the evacuation was to save as many as possible. Not all.

"Two more Reaper's closing on us." Rey informed.

"Draw them in close." He ordered. "We go, they go." His crew didn't question him and he wished he could give each one a personal commendation but they would need to do that in the afterlife. "Begin self-destruct sequence."

_**Groundside**_

The time that passed felt like forever, they could see transports taking off to evacuate the planet. It was a battle they couldn't win. He didn't know what was going on in orbit besides the chaos he could hear on the comms when he opened it. There was too much noise, so he turned it off and stuck the local channel.

"Skycar, incoming!" Verrity shouted. He saw the vehicle through his scope and Nov sprang to action.

"Pol, watch the fighters!" Nov shouted into the comm as one of the Oculas' banked and went after the craft. "Pol, evasive! Verrity!" Verrity fired a shot at the Oculus but the little Reaper ship was barely bothered. "Kel!"

Verrity fired again but it still didn't make a difference. The Oculus fired and the skycar exploded. Nov let out a pained cry. "Noooo!" he just watched the death of his mother and a someone he looked at as a brother. Everything disappeared, the chaos around him, the fighting in the air, and on the land. He didn't hear anything not his uncle and Deliah, not Verrity shouting for him to take cover. His anguish turned to pure and total hate. Before he even knew it he was wading into Reaper foot soldiers.

"Nov, get back!" he heard Deliah shout but he ignored it.

His focus was absolute, every shot he fired went exactly where it needed, one shot, one kill. All his grenades landed where it did the most damage. Knives and omni-blades too…he was a one person army. All he could think of was the car exploding in a ball of flame.

"Get him back." Verrity ordered from his perch on the upper level.

Deliah moved up to attempt to do just that. "Cal, get back." She yelled but he didn't hear her. She knew he heard her but it didn't sink in. "Cal, they're gone let's go!"

The next thing they heard was the last thing they had expected. _"This is Kavaius, terminate evacuation and retreat to rally point. We cannot hold the system. I repeat, we cannot hold the system."_ Turians didn't retreat. 'The only time you saw a Turian's back was if they were dead.' Today was full of surprises and disproved the rule.

"That's it," Verrity said on a link that everyone could hear. "Kavaius is calling it. Get the transports in the air. Nov, get your ass back here right now or I'll shoot you myself. You're compromising my line."

"Cal, we have to go." Deliah barked again and yanked the back of his armor for him to follow. "Let's go, NOW!"

Something was enough to shake him from his fog and he turned to comply but when he did he heard something like a cannon being fired and Deliah's armor was shredded. The Batarian looking creature fired a burst and it ripped through Deliah like she had no armor on at all. He put half a Mattock clip into it but the damage was done. He rolled her over and the movement told him that she was still alive, thousands of things rammed through his mind as he scooped her up and jogged for the _Defiant's_ shuttle. He saw Favia and Nisia step on safely as Verrity and the rest of the military ushered people on. They were not coming; they would stay and fight it out.

"Medkit!" he roared as he laid Deliah down on the shuttle floor. "Medkit, now!" The shuttle launched and he took her helmet off. Blood was everywhere and when he finally got to see her face all he could see was fear in her eyes. "Hang on, Deliah, hang on." Darius applied the medigel but it was no use. The wounds were too great. The brief shake of the head from Darius was something they all saw. Deliah locked eyes with Nov. There was a time when he thought he loved her then they met the people they really did love. He fell head over heels for Sidda and she found Nihlus. She was never the same after Nihlus died and now here Nov was…the cause of her death. He should have fallen back. This was his fault.

It took an extraordinarily strong person to face their death calmly. Deliah was that person. She was afraid but she was calm. "It's alright, Deliah, look at me. Just look at me. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." The medial node Darius applied screamed a cardiac arrest for a second and then flatlined. He knew she was going to die but hearing her life end with a screaming monitor shattered him. Nov cried out. In less than a half an hour nearly everything he cared about was dead.

Darius let his nephew grieve and stood carefully as the shuttle rocked leaving the atmosphere. The view from the side window told the story. It was a tragedy, but it was still the story. "Cal." He didn't expect Nov to appear next to him but a few moments after saying his name he was there.

"Spirits." The view was hard to look at. Debris from ships littered the sky, burning chunks of what used to be Turian warship and a cloud of flame were Carric had been destroyed. Ships were on fire but some still looked functional. The _Canrum_ the newest ship in the Turian fleet was swarmed but at least three capital ships and she was still in the fight. They could see the Thanix cannon doing as much damage as possible and then a brilliant explosion that engulfed two of the Reapers and destroyed them. The _Canrum _fell but made sure she took a few with her. Mass effect cores of the ships around them engaged and suddenly the shuttle's did as well.

_**Orbit**_

The _Defiant _and the_ Currazza_ screamed out of the atmosphere shooting down anything they could in their path to make sure the civilian and military transports had a safe line to engage the cores and escape. _"All ships: abandon the sector. Do not use the relay. Repeat, relay under enemy control. Engage mass effect cores, that is an order." _She heard Kavaius say clearly over the emergency band.

"_Canrum's_ status?" Sevescus asked her tactical officer.

"Swarmed. Power grid is failing, and their core is about to explode." He answered then hesitated before telling her the rest. "They're preparing a self-destruct."

Her heart skipped a beat but she kept herself together. "Comm." She gestured, and the channel opened. "Lorn,"

There was a pause before she got an answer, but she didn't get a sappy 'I love you'. _"Go."_ He said simply. _"There's more coming through the relay."_ His voice was calm, even keeled like it always was but she could hear alarms going off in the background.

"I love you." She said as she couldn't help it. At least she told him that before he died…a happy memory for him of a sort. A moment later the brilliant explosion could be seen from the ground and the _Canrum's_ last act of defiance was the take two Reapers with it. Sevescus let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Get us out of here." She said and they _Defiant _jumped away.

* * *

The remainder of the 3rd Division gathered at the rally point, there weren't many and most were on fire or had gaping holes in their hulls. Nov and Darius stepped on to the CIC and Sevescus looked Nov up and down. His armor was black but she could smell the blood, it was on his face too.

"Where's Kryik? They'll need her in Medical?" Sevescus asked and Nov's teeth clinched.

"She's dead." He said and left it at that.

Sevescus paused a moment then nodded. The look on her face said it all, they were all losing people today. Friends, comrades, loved ones…grieving would have to be later. "Admiral Acadas." She greeted and Darius didn't bother to correct her.

"Captain, what's our status?"

"Six ships made it…including the _Reliant_ and the _Havincaw_. They sustained to most damage." She answered. "_Currazza, Pontius, _and the _Artimus_ report heavy damage but functional."

"Civilians?"

"Sixteen ships. A few took damage but no casualties."

"Captain, incoming from the _Pontius_." The comm officer said.

"Put it on." She nodded. "Captain." She greeted.

"_Where too now, Captain?" _Oraka asked, his ship took plenty damage but they were still functional.

"Palaven."

"_Reliant's comm officer managed to get a message out and one returned. Palaven and Earth are under attack."_

Nov snapped to attention. "Wait, Earth?" he commented then stopped himself. They had bigger issues and his mental state couldn't take much more of this. "Sorry."

Darius eyed him as he fell silent again. "Vakarian-1 protocol. I'm not familiar with it."

"_After your time, Sir."_ Oraka commented.

It took a minute but Nov's training finally kicked in. "Vakarian-1 is invasion evacuation protocol for the Reapers." He said. "If Palaven and Earth are no go's we go to the Citadel."

Sevescus took the word of the Spectre and didn't question. "Citadel it is. Can all the ships make it?"

"_Maybe not the Reliant and Havincaw." _Oraka replied.

Nov needed to work and keep his mind occupied. "I'm an engineer. Send me to the worst one."

"_The Reliant."_

Nov turned and left the CIC for the hanger bay. The _Reliant _was a different class frigate but they were all basically the same. He needed to do something…Earth was under attack and he didn't know where Sidda was. His mother and cousin died pretty much before his eyes and someone he cared for died in his arms less than a half an hour ago. He needed to be busy.


	2. Chapter 2: What Doesn't Kill You

_**Note: Hello, everyone. Thank you for your patience on this...as you may have guess...I got sidejacked with another story and Destiny 2. **_

_**Thank you for the favorites and follows, I was very proud of that last chapter by the time it was finished. I do hope you enjoy this one here. As always feedback is appreciated.**_

_**Please enjoy Chapter Two: What Doesn't Kill You**_

**Mass Effect**  
"Foreign Relations"

**Chapter Two: What Doesn't Kill You**

Earth under attack…I told you so somehow just didn't quite cover it. A complete invasion of the Sol system was underway. The dreadnaught _Krakatoa_ got into a slug fest over Vancouver with a Reaper and they didn't even make a dent. Hackett called skyfall, the military code for the homeworld invasion but that was the last she heard before he ordered her to go to Mars with the _Normandy_ and retrieve Liara and a Prothean research. It was all a bit of déjà vu for Sidda, all those years back except the planet was the hotbox known as Therum.

The _Normandy_ had a skeleton crew that included Joker. It had been in dry dock for upgrades and transformation from a Cerberus ship to an Alliance one. She was half done, decking, bulkheads, and wires were exposed as the retrofit was still in progress.

Sidda grabbed a set of armor and an Avenger from the armory and prepped for the flight down to the Mars base. With her was Lt. James Vega, her guard, for lack of a better term, the whole she was on Earth. He still called her Commander although her sentence had been carried out and she was discharged from the Alliance. It was Hero Worship, even he called it that, and he seemed like he was a completely solid soldier. She didn't have much choice in the fireteam as the options were slim. The lack of options was the only reason that Kaidan was second member. He made her bristle even months after he hung her out to dry with his appearance at her hearing. He'd made it to the _Normandy _with Vega when Earth was attacked and was along for the ride. _Major_ Kaidan Alenko…they saw fit to promote him. She scoffed quietly as Vega piloted the Kodiak to the surface.

He said very little, but never talked much anyway, on the flight down. He was there when Anderson reinstated her, and he deferred to her command. Despite transitioning to the Marines, she still outranked him as a Commander. He didn't want to pick a fight with her so he kept his mouth closed. They hadn't spoken since that day and he'd encountered both sides of the coin, those who praised him for his actions and those who condemned him. All he did was tell the truth and he was treated like a leper by some for it.

For Kaidan, Mars was old hat. He'd been stationed there and knew the place like the back of his hand. The base being offline was troubling for the three of them. The Reapers had attacked Earth but so far there had been no sign of them around Mars, why would there be…it was an outpost something they could take care of later. To make things a little worse was the incoming storm. A Mars dust storm was a nuisance that you got used to if you lived there, like tornados or a hurricane on Earth but they were just as inconvenient. The storm was an average sized for Mars but it would play havoc with the communications and visibility.

Running into Cerberus created more tension between Kaidan and Sidda. They were executing base staff outside and didn't expect Vega, Kaidan, and Sidda. They quickly searched the bodies outside after the impressive biotics between Sidda and Kaidan allowed Vega to quickly mop of the stragglers. Kaidan observed Sidda's combat, it appeared her abilities had changed; shockwave, warp, throw, and singularity were all there, but she seemed more powerful and she also sported Reave the life sucking power common among Asari. Cerberus gave her a serious upgrade; he was getting stronger as he aged and achieved Reave on his own. The benefit to being an L2 was that he was stronger than any other biotic out here.

"This is Cerberus, Sidda, what are they doing here?" he asked bluntly and saw Sidda's annoyed shake of her head.

"It's commander, Alenko." She said and then heard how petty that sounded.

"I'll call you whatever I want, Sidda, I didn't do anything wrong." He snapped back. "Now what are they doing here?"

"How the hell should I know?"

"You worked for them. They spend millions bringing you back. I figured you'd know."

She rolled her eyes under the helmet and sighed heavily. "Oh for fuck sake, I haven't seen or had any contact with Cerberus since I turned over the _Normandy_." She grumbled. "I do not know why they are here."

The attitude between hem made Vega uncomfortable, they'd all watched the Tribunal and his testimony. He didn't know what to make of Kaidan, did he just tell the truth, or did he screw her because he didn't like Cerberus? It appeared that Sidda firmly believed the latter. "It doesn't look like they came here in force." Vega commented successfully redirecting the conversation.

"No, just a few trucks."

Kaidan was familiar with the base. "No one could take this base with anything less than a full battalion."

"Inside job?" she questioned to either of them and they both agreed. They weren't thrilled with the idea, but it would make sense. Finally, a moment they all agreed on. The timing was what made everyone uncomfortable, Cerberus attacking just as the Reapers did. Hell of a coincidence or something else was going on.

They had to fight through another group to gain access to the base, but it was still the same strange feeling. "Enough of this. What are they doing here?" he demanded as they entered the airlock for the base. The timing was suspicious, and he didn't think he could trust Sidda anymore…not fully.

The animosity between them was getting worse because he was a little too narrowminded. He believed what he saw and didn't look past it. "How many times do I have to tell you that _I don't work for Cerberus_." She snarled to him. "If I have to do it again, I swear I might shoot you this time."

He was tired of being talked to like that and wasn't afraid to stand up to her. She had a command style he was used to and he'd learned a lot from Cerrus on how to deal with it. "Don't threaten me, Commander." He growled back. "It's a valid question. You used to work for or with them and now they are here…convenient."

"Major," Vega interjected before they got into another argument. "since Shepard's been on Earth there's been no contact Cerberus at all. She couldn't have known anything about this."

Kaidan wasn't sure if he believed it all but there was a piece of him that felt it was the truth. "Don't bring it up again." She told him and he ignored that completely. He would do what he liked if he felt that he needed to. Sidda was someone he respected but it was too difficult now.

* * *

Finding Liara wasn't hard, she came to them but with two Cerberus operatives in tow. It wasn't hard for her to take them out. After that things continued to backslide and Kaidan fully expected Sidda to send him back to the shuttle for the escape plan but was surprised when she sent Vega. Sidda always went with the tactical option; bringing Cerrus onboard was the prime example. She couldn't stand him but used him to her advantage. Kaidan knew the base so he was an automatic asset.

He quietly followed both Liara and Sidda through the base to get the blueprints for a Prothean weapon that was supposed to be the magic bullet for the Reapers. Like Sidda, he would believe it when he saw it. He got more and more irritated as they went on because Cerberus had a scorched Earth approach to anyone in their way, they killed everyone. Civilians and soldiers alike.

The tram was heavily defended and Kaidan warned Sidda of that, what they didn't count on was the tramway's defenses were active…and controlled by the other side.

"That's a big fucking gun, Commander." He commented making himself as small as possible behind cover to avoid the spray of bullets flying down the corridor. "Move up and stay in cover. We should be able to skirt around it until we can get under it."

"My thoughts exactly, Major." She replied with a nod. The tactic was sound.

Kaidan moved up first followed by Sidda then Liara. It was simple enough to get around it and then shut it down, but the issue of the tram remained. The only way across was the tram…and Cerberus had it. Kaidan kept watch as Liara and Sidda discussed the situation. It had to have been an inside job and from the security footage they'd seen he was correct. Someone on the inside allowed access to the base so it could be infiltrated, and all the staff killed. It pissed him off…fucking Cerberus. He just couldn't let it go.

"How do we get them to send us the tram?" he heard Sidda ask out loud as they worked the problem out.

Kaidan looked at one of the dead Cerberus troopers and then turned to Sidda. "I have an idea." He said and wasn't prompted to continue. "They should have a short-wave radio in their helmet…we can use that."

There had to be more than that to his plan and she scoffed her reply. "I doubt they're gonna send it just because you ask."

Kaidan snorted. "I can be charming." He said and she cackled sharply.

"How about be convincing." She retorted as Kaidan removed the helmet of the trooper. What he found shocked them both and he jumped back out of reflex. "What the hell?"

"My god…he looks…" he stammered and trailed off. "like a Husk." The trooper wasn't totally a Husk but he had the 'traits' of one. Like he had been modified and it made both of them uncomfortable. Cerberus reached an all-time low in his book. He was still haunted by the shit he'd seen in their labs. Toombs, Kahoku, the colonies devastated by Husks and Creepers, the ship infested with Rachni…but this was a new low. It didn't take a genius to figure out that they modified their own soldiers with Reaper tech. "Is that what they did to you?" he asked. The scenario played out in his head and it horrified and angered him. Sidda was his friend and the thought of that happening to her pissed him off.

The looked she gave him was one for the books. In the past hour he'd angered her more than he ever had and that included the Tribunal. "How can you compare me to that?!" she demanded in complete shock that he would even consider that. They had their differences, but it was way out of line.

"Cerberus rebuilt you. Modified you with new tech."

"Do I fucking look like a Husk, Kaidan? Huh!?" she barked.

"I don't know what they did to you." He fired back and that answer was the root of it all for him. He didn't know what they had done to her which meant he didn't know if he could trust her at all.

"They saved my life, Kaidan." She replied with a raised and angry tone. "If it wasn't for them I'd be dead…truly dead not brain dead on a slab. Damn you for thinking that I am _anything_ like _that_. I am nothing like that…I am still me." He looked down, realizing that his suspicion had gone too far. Cerberus had their hooks in her but it certainly wasn't to the extent of what was at their feet. His silence didn't mean he conceded the argument it just meant that he knew he upset her and backed off. His blunt approach wasn't helping anything. All of this he was handling poorly. Sidda's anger boiled down but her glare said everything. He hurt her. "Get on the damn radio and be fucking convincing." She hissed and he obeyed her colorful order.

There was a lot he'd done wrong lately and most of it centered around someone he cared a great deal for. Sidda was his friend, a mentor, and the best commanding officer he'd ever had. When she died, he took it extremely hard so seeing her roaming around Horizon was like a kick to the gut not to mention the ties to Cerberus. On a deep level he felt betrayed by the person he trusted the most and that was a hard thing to let go of. After this mission they needed to clear the air…if they managed to get off Mars.

The tram was harder to gain access to than it really needed to be. He convinced them to send it on over so they could secure the base but the squad that brought it to them didn't fall for the ambush. The fight didn't last long but it was hard, and it didn't stop there. Most troopers met them halfway after they blew up the track. The three of them were injured in some way and he did his best to care for it all.

After his biotic explosion knocked Sidda off her feet at the tram checkpoint he held out his hand to help her up. She was in very close proximity when the dark energy collided, and it clearly dazed her. "You alright, Commander?" he asked and helped steady her. He'd be surprised if she didn't have a concussion.

She took a moment to gather herself and felt her head do one spin before settling back down. "Yeah." She answered after a minute. "You've gotten stronger…impressive."

Human biotics usually didn't, he was exhibiting a typical Asari trait where biotics got stronger as they aged. "Yeah." He acknowledged and she shrugged his hands off of her.

"I'm fine. Let's go. Liara-…"

"We're almost there, it's just on the other side of this door." She finished and bypassed the security so they could enter.

The room was enormous, a giant rotunda that had been poked, prodded, and studied, for decades. Kaidan had been assigned to the base but he'd never been here before. In the center was a green glowing Prothean beacon and he flashed back to Eden Prime. It unsettled him and he glanced at Sidda to his right, she was uneasy too and he could only imagine what was going through her head right now. The Eden Prime beacon changed the course of her life in an epic way. She saw the destruction of a civilization and it was burned into her for good. He'd always felt for her when it came to that. If she hadn't acted as quickly as she had on Eden Prime, it would have been him in the hot seat…not her.

"Major, check the room." She ordered and he side-eyed her. Busy work.

"Yep, giant empty room…sounds like fun." He muttered as he headed off to the right. There was a walkway that circled the whole room but it was at a lower position from the center platform that had the beacon on it. After Feros he knew Prothean architecture when he saw it and this was exactly that.

Being still tied in on the comms he could hear the bullshit the Illusive Man was laying down. Trying to get in the way so he could capitalize on the Reapers. It didn't make sense to try to control them, the Reapers needed to be destroyed and that was the argument happening above him. Maybe Sidda was telling the truth, Cerberus was a means to an end, someone willing to help protect the colonies from the Collectors and that was all. Good thing was that Sidda wasn't buying the shit he was selling but he heard something in an alcove ahead of him.

"Hey!" he barked sharply to the woman hacking the controls. "Step away from the console now." He ordered and trained his rifle on her. He recognized her from the security footage, she was the one who allowed Cerberus access. She was the insider. "I said now." He barked again but she whirled and attacked him so fast it was inhuman. She hit him so hard in the chest he skidded back about fifteen feet before stopping. "There's an operative down here." He reported and got to his feet. "She destroyed the console.

"_Don't let her escape,"_ Liara shouted in his ear. _"she's got the data!"_

Kaidan gave chase and made it up the ramp just ahead of Sidda. The woman they were chasing was fast…too fast and ending incendiaries back at them to cover herself. The chase ended in a spectacular fashion, they never actually caught her but Vega took matters into his own hands and rammed the Cerberus shuttle with the Kodiak, violated about a dozen regulations in the process. The Cerberus shuttle crashed in a fireball that nearly landed on top of the three of them.

"This mission sucks." Sidda muttered as she slowly sat up after being knocked off her feet. She and Liara had been pretty close to where the Cerberus ship crashed and it was too close for comfort for Sidda.

The Kodiak landed hard as its stabilizers were damaged beyond repair after the impact. "What the hell were you thinking?" Kaidan asked sounding like a superior to a subordinate.

"That they couldn't get away." The Lieutenant replied as he turned and looked at the ship he just wrecked. "_Normandy's_ on route. Should be here any second."

"Sidda, we need that data." Liara said as Sidda surveyed the wreck on the platform. The Cerberus ship was in flames so getting to the remains of Dr. Eva Core was not going to be easy or fast. Movement from the wreck caught her eye and she turned to see what it was. The form that had been Eva Core stood up but not as a human…a mech. It was a Cerberus mech which explained a lot.

_Fuck._ She said to herself and as she drew her pistol the mech was on her faster than she expected. Knocked the gun away and punched her hard in the face. The helmet truly saved her life in that moment but it was a minute detail as the mech just grabbed the face of her helmet and lifted her off the ground.

Kaidan and James responded to the struggle but once the mech had Sidda it stopped. "Let her go!" Kaidan ordered with his weapon trained on the mech. He was certain he could put the mech down so long as he didn't miss. There was a pause from the mech as if it was awaiting orders. "Let her go!"

Instead of letting her go, Kaidan saw the next few seconds in slow motion. The mech smashed Sidda into the side of the burning shuttle with force enough to dent the metal. For something that was supposed to stand up to combat and the perils of space travel that was a sickening sight. "No!" he shouted as he watched Sidda be pummeled and then haphazardly dropped. The mech then charged him and his focus narrowed. He fired six shots and each one right exactly where he wanted it to go. Right into the mechs head and it crashed to the ground at his feet.

His focus lingered for a moment or two to make sure it was down for the count then he shifted is eyes to crumpled body of Sidda. "Sid." He breathed and ran to her. He skidded to his knees next to her and had the Omni-tool geared for the medical option before he hit the ground. She was still alive, and he breathed a sigh of relief, but her vitals worried him. She was seriously injured.

"Major, we have to go!" he heard Vega yell as the _Normandy _arrived with the Reapers hot on their tails.

He gathered her up in his arms and flashed back to Eden Prime, this was the second time he had to carry her off the battlefield. He looked down at her, only able to see her closed eyes through the mask. "Don't die on my now, Shepard." He muttered, the same words he'd said before.

* * *

Kaidan didn't stop anywhere until he reached medical and gently put Sidda down on the bed. Vega was behind him with the mech that he plopped on the bed opposite. "Joker, get us out of here. Take us to the Citadel." He ordered over the comm as she rapidly removed armor and assessed Sidda's condition. He could see bruising already in a location that worried him, behand the ear…Battle's Sign. The medic in him took over completely as soon as they crossed that threshold.

He kicked the bio-bed into gear and within 30 seconds he had a preliminary reading. Broken bones and a massive concussion. It was the head injury that worried him, her vitals were indicating a brain bleed of some sort and he could see that on the monitor. Her vitals were critical, and alarms were announcing that. "Damnit. Come on, Sid, hang in there." He said out loud to himself. He had an audience, but he didn't care at the moment. There were many fractures, both shoulder blades showed a break but the occipital bone fracture was causing the Battle's Sign he was seeing far too early. Liara had served with him but had never seen him like this, as a medic he was efficient and focused. He knew exactly what he needed and never second guessed himself.

"_Commander, Adm. Hackett's on the QEC."_ Joker said as Kaidan injected something to stem the swelling of her brain into her vein.

"Shepard's incapacitated, Joker, take a message." He said quickly and kept his eyes on the monitor as he pushed the medication in. Her vitals didn't change, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. No reaction was okay…sort of.

"_I think someone needs to talk to him, Major."_ Joker added after a moment. Shepard being incapacitated probably worried him or he pulled up the feed from Medical and watched.

Kaidan didn't care, he was concerned with Sidda. He regretted all the trouble he'd put her through. Everything he's said and did over the past few months, there was a real possibility she was going to die…permanently this time. He ignored Joker and set an IV in record time so he could administer more medication to keep her stable. The monitor stopped screaming but that was only barely. She needed a hospital and a doctor…not a medic in a half stocked medical bay.

"Kaidan," Liara said trying to get his attention but his focus remained on the slow push medication. "Kaidan." She said louder getting his focus this time. "Go and talk to Hackett. I'll watch her."

He didn't want to leave. Karma was biting him in the ass, he'd done enough to her lately and now he was paying the price. The person he'd been fighting with was now fighting for her life. Liara got him to look at her and reluctantly nodded. "Keep an eye on those vitals. If they change tell me. I want her blood pressure to come down and her heartrate to come up. Joker, tell Hackett I'm on my way."

* * *

The QEC was new for him but he'd been on the _Normandy _already right before the shit hit the fan so he knew where to find it. The image of Hackett was distorted and garbled and his patience was gone. "Joker, clean it up." He ordered curtly.

"_Working."_ EDI responded. The AI he knew about…it creeped him out but that was the last thing he was thinking about.

"_Commander?"_ Hackett questioned as he wasn't sure who he was looking at. The distortion was on both ends apparently. _"Commander Shepard?"_

"Major Alenko, Sir." He answered as it all became clear. "Shepard was injured and is incapacitated at the moment." He explained.

Hackett was visibly taken aback. _"How bad?"_ All of his soldiers were important to him but Sidda…she was a whole different sort. She inspired more loyalty then any military commander in history.

"I don't know yet." He answered honestly. "She needs a hospital."

Hackett looked down and then gathered himself. He couldn't lose Sidda, she was the backbone of the fight against the Reapers…too important to lose but life went on and in this case they had a dismal looking war to fight. _"I'm sorry to hear that, Major. Did you get the data?"_

"Some of it. We weren't alone on Mars. Cerberus beat us to the data and made a copy. There was an infiltration mech that overrode the security protocols on the base and killed the staff and nearly killed Shepard."

"_Cerberus?"_ he questioned trying to wrap his head around that. _"What's their interest?" _he wondered out loud.

Kaidan shrugged. "I don't know but they made a mess of the place." He said simply. He wanted to get back to Medical so he could monitor Sidda. "Sir, Anderson ordered us to the Citadel and that's where we're heading. Shepard needs a hospital and I can speak to the council."

It was a sound plan; Hackett had his hands full with the worst possible scenario. Enemy invasion and they weren't in the least bit prepared for it. "_Very well. Until Shepard is back on her feet you are in command, Major."_

"Yes, Sir."

"_Good hunting. Hackett, out."_

Kaidan leaned forward on the console and replayed all the things he regretted lately. It was funny that everything that seemed righteous and important then just seemed petty and vindictive now. He single-handedly ruined his friendship with Sidda because he wouldn't listen. His stubbornness could lead to the last thing he remembered of her was her anger toward him.

"Kaidan," a soft, gentle voice said from the door.

It startled him and he turned to see Liara. "What are you doing up here?" last he told her was to stay with Sidda and keep an eye on her vitals.

"Vitals stabilized. Blood pressure came down and her heartrate went up. Lt. Vega is with her." She said and Kaidan remained distant and quiet. "Kaidan, she needs a hospital."

"We're on our way to the Citadel." He told her and his brain cycled through the mission parameters. "I need that data ready to present to the Council. If the Protheans did design a weapon to stop this then we all need it."

* * *

Huerta Memorial was the largest hospital on Zekara Ward and was supposed to be the best hospital on the Citadel. It had the most diverse staff and specialists and when the _Normandy_ reached the Citadel, Sidda was taken there immediately. Kaidan went as well letting Liara go on ahead with he Prothean data, he would catch up with them once he made sure Sidda was in good hands.

Huerta offered a familiar face for Kaidan, though, Dr. Michel who was the on-call doctor that took Sidda on as a patient. "What happened?" she asked him as she began her exam.

"Blunt force trauma, mech smashed her into the side of the Kodiak three or for times. Vitals were stabilized but barely, this is what I gave in route." He said and sent the list to her Omni-tool. "Battle sign already showing, multiple fractures to back and shoulders, and a fracture to the occipital bone. Only responds to painful stimuli."

"We need to get the brain swelling under control, prep her for surgery." Michel ordered and looked to Kaidan. "Thank you, Major, we'll take it from here."

In the lobby for the hospital Kaidan sat down and put his head in his hands. He'd been a combat medic for a long time and had patched everything from a gunshot wound to broken bones but it was always harder when it was someone he cared about. Sidda he cared about despite the bad blood between them. He gathered himself with a deep sigh the Council was probably waiting and he should get to it.

* * *

Nov managed to gather enough of the _Reliant_ pieces together and get the paralyzed heavy frigate to the Widow Nebula by making one, all or nothing, jump. As soon as the jump was completed they lost all power and barely functioned on the reserves. Luckily, the Citadel was able to slowly tow the wounded ship to the station. There was nothing on the _Reliant_ that wasn't damaged, and Nov had never worked so hard to get minimum viable product out of whatever system he needed.

From the crew he learned what happened, the _Reliant _was credited with firing first as they and the _Pontius_ engaged the Reapers. Sometime during the fight, however, they lost their entire command staff excluding a comm officer when the CIC took a direct hit. After that the _Reliant_ was useless in the fight as it's critical damage effectively paralyzed it. The crew was demoralized after losing so many people so quickly, a quarter of the crew went with the CIC when it was blasted into space. They did speak of Oraka like a hero. He was, truly, to them. Once the _Reliant_ was disabled he put his cruiser in the line of fire like a shield to allow them to limp far enough from the fight. They'd all be dead otherwise.

The only surviving member of the command staff was Lieutenant Enya Kovir, communications. She was the ranking officer onboard and for being thrust into the role she was doing well. When the _Reliant _completed the jump and they didn't explode he leaned down onto the console with tired relief.

"You are a magician." She said to him and patted his shoulder. Nov had worked nonstop for almost ten hours to pull the poor ship together

"I don't think I've been that worried about every system I touched blowing up in my face." He muttered and then looked over at her. "You did well, Lieutenant, thanks for the help." She was young, probably not even 25, and from Palaven. She kept her cool though, through it all and that was impressive.

"No, thank you, Sir…on behalf of us all." She said sincerely and he didn't have it in him to correct or comment and keyed the only working comm line he and Kovir were able to patch through Omni-tools. "_Reliant_ to _Currazza_," he began. "…well…we didn't explode."

* * *

The only one left after this was the _Havincaw_. Damaged as well but a little more functional and still had her command staff. Before he made the trip back with the _Artimus _he was summoned to Sparatus' office. Once the _Reliant_ put in he found his way to Sparatus and found Darius, Oraka, and Sevescus already there. Full house as it were.

Nov hadn't slept or even stopped moving for hours, if he did his head would fall to his mother, his cousin, and Sidda. Sidda…he still didn't know where she was. The comm buoys were all clogged with missing links and interference. He couldn't stop or he'd fall apart. Because he'd run himself into the ground, he looked like shit.

Darius gave his nephew a critical eye. "You look like hell, Cal, when was the last time you slept?"

"I don't remember." Nov replied simply and leaned on the wall. Present but tired.

"The _Reliant_?" Oraka inquired.

"Safe and sound at Dock 68. That ship is barely holding together. The crew…the crew's demoralized but they sing your praises, Captain." He said to Oraka. The tall Turian didn't look for the glory. Caelius was difficult at times but he always had one goal. He protected his people even if it made him unpopular. In that regard he was very similar to his father. "I think they need some reassurance. They lost a lot of people when the CIC went up."

Oraka took his comments under advisement. "Alright," Sparatus began. "this is what we have so far. Palaven and Earth under attack, Rylo and Taetrus as well and the Batarians seemed to be the first hit and are no longer transmitting anything from the system."

The Reaper attack needed to make sense. Rylo was the odd man out…or so it seemed. "So, they attack the military might's but leave the Asari out?" Sevescus asked and it was a fair observation.

"The Batarians were hit first so they must have used that relay to enter since they couldn't use the Citadel or the Alpha relay." Nov commented, Sidda effectively thwarted those options so the Reapers improvised.

Darius agreed with his assessment. "Then they hit us, with the strongest military. Food." He pointed to Rylo. "Fuel at Gemmae, the 79th engaged the Reapers at the Depot and are now permanently committed if they move off it, they'll likely be destroyed in the escape and we lose access to fuel. Largest colony in Taetrus for a demoralizing hit and our seat of power at Palaven."

All of that made sense, it was a sound tactical plan. "And Earth?" Oraka asked.

"Sidda." Nov answered drawing the attention. "She killed a Reaper and stepped on Sovereign's plan…she's a nuisance." Again, his assessment made sense and Sparatus moved on. He had a few assets to work with now that needed to be distributed.

"As for the remainder of the 3rd Division, Darius, consider yourself reinstated. I'm told the _Artimus_ lost its captain, she's yours. I'm placing you in command of the 3rd Divisions remnants with the exception of the _Reliant_. Once it reaches battle readiness, we'll fold it into Citadel Defense Force. Sevescus, the _Defiant_ will do the same."

Sparatus was a de facto superior at the moment. He had a strong military background and knew Darius personally so him giving them orders wasn't an issue. He received a chorus of affirmations and he turned his attention to Nov. He had new for him and it was clear the Turian hadn't heard yet. "Cal," he began. "I apologize for not say this earlier but I needed all to focus. The _Normandy_ is here." He said and they all saw a surge of energy shoot through Nov as he stood up straight and was suddenly on high alert. The Alliance lost Earth and are in danger of losing the system. The _Normandy _came in about seven hours ago, Shepard is at Huerta Memorial."

Nov didn't even care that he waited to tell him, a result of his military training, but now he knew where his wife was. Another drilled in aspect of his military training was trying to get out of the room, he couldn't just up and leave. "Permission to-…"

"Go." Before the word was finished Nov was gone at a dead run.

* * *

Kaidan met with the Council and they were entirely unhelpful…as usual. This time there really was a threat and they were all scrambling to protect their own while point fingers at each other. It was maddening really and all Kaidan could do was sit back and watch the nonsense. Udina offered him a job as a Spectre though and he would have been elated if he wasn't worried about losing his friend in a hospital bed. He told him he'd think about it. Udina stabbed Sidda in the back before and after the Citadel…no reason to think it would be any different for him.

"Chloe," he called as he saw Michel out of surgery finally. "how is she?"

"She's stable-…" she began before someone barked a name.

"Kaidan!" Nov called as he fast approached them.

Kaidan was surprised to see him to say the least. "Nov?" he questions and shook his head. Of course it was Nov, he had a radar when Sidda was in trouble but Kaidan judged his appearance. "You look like hell."

Nov gave a brief studder step to the comment but leveled a glare at him. He really must have looked like hell if people kept telling him that. "What happened?" he asked then recanted. "Nevermind. Is she okay?"

The question was directed to Michel and he cut Kaidan off. Nov was tired and clearly a little frazzled and both Kaidan and Michel could see it. "Who is this?" Michel asked to Kaidan.

"Her husband. Callus Nov, Chloe Michel." Kaidan introduced.

"Is Sidda okay?" Nov asked again only a little less patient.

Michel was used to deal with impatient people when it came to family. She didn't realize Sidda was married to a Turian. "She's stable. We did a small procedure on her brain to relieve the swelling, administered bone healers for the multiple shoulder fractures and the skull fracture. You did everything right, Kaidan." Michel told Kaidan. "The medication you administered so quickly probably saved the Commander's life."

Nov looked from Michel to Kaidan but said nothing of what he was thinking. Kaidan was there when she was hurt, he wanted to know the details but that would wait. "Can I see her?"

She nodded and gestured for him to follow. "Try not to disturb her she'd resting now and should come out of the anesthesia soon." Nov nodded and follow but turned to point at Kaidan.

"I want to talk to you later." He announced then disappeared into the surgical wing.

* * *

Seeing Sidda in a hospital bed wasn't new to Nov, it was a hell of a thing to be used to but in the end he was. She never backed down from a fight and sometimes the consequences resulted in what he was looking at. She was still unconscious, and he saw bruising around her eyes and ears, whatever did this to her must have been massive and powerful.

Kiadan appear next to him as he looked at Sidda lying motionless in the bed. Nov hadn't sent for him but there was no time like the present. "What happened?" he asked quietly.

"Cerberus Mech on Mars. Tried to put her through the side of Kodiak drop ship." He said and Nov thought about that for a moment. "I did my job and gave her all the meds I could and had Joker haul ass here."

"Michel said you saved her." He commented and Kaidan nodded. Medics didn't look for glory or recognition so saying so made him visibly uncomfortable. Deliah was the same way. The thought of her unearthed all the bad memories and he forced them into the back of his mind again. "You take down the mech?"

Kaidan nodded quietly. Kaidan was always quiet…he was a lot like Cerrus which is why they got along so well. "Put half a clip in it before it dropped."

He looked over at him in quiet observation Kaidan Alenko…a younger, nicer Cerrus. He was a good man; he didn't have anything against him. He did was he had to do during the Tribunal, and he couldn't fault him for it. He was glad that he was there and he was forever in his debt for keeping her alive. "Thank you, Kaidan." He said sincerely and extended his hand to him.

Kiadan shook his hand. "I'll leave you alone." He said. "You should sleep, you don't look so good."

Nov was tired of hearing that but everyone he came across made the same observation there had to be reason for it.

* * *

Sidda's head throbbed from left to right then back again when she opened her eyes. The ceiling didn't look familiar and she was alarmed when she didn't know where she was. She remembered Mars and the Mech…two hits from the Mech and then she remembered nothing beyond waking up here. Her head hurt but she managed to focus her eyes to her surroundings. She saw Nov to her right with his head down on the side of the bed.

Moving her arms didn't feel good but she tapped his head. "Cal." She said and cleared her throat. "Hey."

The tap and the second noise she made successfully woke him up. He sat up and looked around before he noticed she was awake. He shot to his feet and hovered over her with the worried look on his face. "Oh, Sid. Baby, you okay?"

"My head hurts." She said and he gently stroked her cheek with his right hand.

"Let me get Dr. Michel." He said and disappeared for a second.

Michel? She was on the Citadel. With her out of commission Kaidan probably took over which she found herself strangely okay with. He knew what he was doing and was a good a good officer…apart from a few things she took issue with. Her mind raced with all the tasks she needed to do. Talk to the council, help Earth, stop the Reapers…Michel appeared with Nov and the flood of to-do's stopped. "Been a long time, Doc." Sidda commented and tried to move but found that was a mistake even before Michel's warning to not move. Her back, shoulders, and head screamed their protest in a myriad of ways and she stopped moving with a whine.

"Don't move, Commander, you have multiple fractures in your shoulders and occipital bone." Michel said in a tone that was half plea and half order. "Bone healers will take at least a week to knit fully."

There was a vague recollection of what happened but at the moment that was all she could muster. "What happened?"

"You suffered a massive head injury which Maj. Alenko was able to stabilize, and I was able to relieve the swelling in your brain." She explained and Sidda understood where the headache from hell came from. "I'll run a few more scans in a little while but for now you should rest."

Sidda gave a nod and looked to Nov, the way he looked wasn't sitting well with her. Something was wrong with him. "I'll leave you alone. You need to rest." She repeated and then looked at Nov. "You should too."

When Michel left, Sidda looked at Nov was as critical an eye as she could manage. "You okay, Cal?" He would have scoffed if he'd thought of it, she was in a hospital bed after surgery and she was asking him if he was okay. He didn't answer and that concerned her more. He just gave her that look reserved for someone who didn't know what to do or say. Something was wrong. "Cal?

"Uhh…" he began with a shaky breath. Saying it out loud was going to bring it all back…and make it real. "Mom and Pollux died on Rylo." He said finally, his words were tight as if he was saying them through a held breath.

The confession shocked Sidda too and she immediately felt empathy for him. "What?" she breathed as it was all she could muster at the moment. She wanted to hug and comfort him but as she tried to sit up the broken bones in her back told her that it was a bad idea. "Ow! Fuck."

He appreciated her attempt, but he grumbled. She was more Turian than anyone gave her credit for. "Don't get up damnit." He cursed and moved to sit next to the bed.

"How?"

He hesitated, reliving it was painful. "The…the Reapers attacked Rylo, engaged the 3rd Division and Kavaius ordered a planet wide evacuation. During the evacuation Pollux and my mother were shot down." He went on and felt Sidda take his left hand in hers.

"Cal, I…I'm so sorry." She had nothing else that she could say that would come anywhere close to what he was feeling right now.

Now that he was talking about it he felt both better and worse at the same time. "I'm not done." He said quietly in a defeated tone. If he were human Sidda was certain he would be sobbing right now, Turians didn't cry but his body language was something she'd learned to read. He was emotionally drained and on the ragged edge. "Deliah's dead too…and that was my fault." The memory play over in his head. Her yelling at him to pull back and then the sound of that fucking cannon tearing through her armor. At least he'd washed the blood off.

One more shock to the system, Deliah was a friend. She and Sidda had their issues but hearing she was dead brought Nihlus back to Sidda. It was a bad memory that Sidda still couldn't shake even after death. "What do you mean your fault?"

Nov was jaded and not in a good mindset. "I wasn't where I was supposed to be."

To a Turian, who believed in service before self, causing the death of a teammate was an ultimate mistake while in combat. They prided themselves on precision, plans, the ability to follow orders. Nov being out of position and causing the death of someone he cared for like Deliah was going to mess with his mind to a significant degree. "Don't blame yourself."

"You weren't there." He bit back with a slight snarl but Sidda only hardened her stance.

"Don't blame yourself." She repeated harsher this time. She didn't want to fight with him or force him past something he wasn't ready to let go of. "You need to sleep." She said instead. Cal was simple for her to read now. He was exhausted.

His reply was honest, and her heart went out to him. "I can't." Not because he wasn't tired, but he was afraid to and Sidda knew exactly what he was eluding to.

"Every time you close your eyes you see it." She said and Nov looked at her with an apprehensive expression. He was almost ashamed of it. He was trained not to be emotional. "I know. I see Nihlus a lot, but you still need to sleep." Nihlus' death was burned into her, the emotion of watching him be murdered was amplified by the Prothean Beacon. Inextricable. She knew exactly what her husband was going through.

She was right, as usual, and he resigned. The bed was too small for both of them and she was too damaged to deal with a Turian trying to get comfortable on the impossible bed so he rested his head where it was. He was tired and hoped he was tired enough to just go into a deep sleep.

Two hours was what he got then he was startled awake by his Omni-tool alert. Someone was calling him. He rubbed his neck which had a crick in it now and smacked the icon. "What?" he growled like the grumpy, groggy Turian he was at the moment.

"_Artimus is ready, Kid, Havincaw awaits."_ Darius said and he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Right. I'm on my way." He said and looked at Sidda still fast asleep due to the meds that were still in her system. He didn't wake her, just leaned over her and kissed her forehead…the only place not bruised. "I love you." He said quietly, words just for her. On the way out the door he dictated the message to her and sent it to her Omni-tool.

* * *

Michel soon realized that Sidda wasn't best patient in the world, broken bones, and gunshot wounds didn't keep her down for long. When Sidda got Nov's message she cursed, it was a price she paid for being married to an engineering prodigy. He jetted off while she was a knocked out but him being gone was becoming old hat…not really a good thing. They'd spent most of their time apart and it was starting to grate.

The bone healers still had _days_ to finish knitting the fractures and her head still hurt but of course she was on her feet. The tech Cerberus put in her helped heal the brain injury so that was one Christmas card she needed to sent to The Illusive Man. Now she had Kaidan standing before her. The last time she saw him they were arguing. He was accusing her of being a mindless husk but this was also the man who saved her life. Michel went in more detail about how he did it. The first medication he gave her to stop the swelling. Kaidan quietly briefed her on Hackett's orders, the weapon, and the Council and seemed much more like the Kaidan she knew a long time ago. Something changed from Mars to here.

"Anything else?" she asked after he gave her the last bit of the Council being entirely unhelpful.

"Udina wants to make me a Spectre." He said and she couldn't help but smile. Kaidan would be a great Spectre, he knew when to bed the rules and when to keep them.

"You'd be great at it." She told him and he almost blushed.

"That…that means a lot coming from you." He nodded and let out a nervous chuckle. "Thank you."

She shook her head. "No, thank you. I'd have died out there if you hadn't been with me."

The praise still made him uncomfortable but that was highly possible. "I wasn't wrong about Cerberus, but I was wrong about you. I just hope we can forgive each other one day." He said and Surprisingly, she did too. It took time to work past the anger but there was nothing better than combat to get back on the same page. He dismissed himself so she could take on the task of getting dressed.

Sidda's left shoulder felt like she broke it into a million pieces and the right just felt broken. Michel assured her that it wasn't that bad but she wasn't feeling what she was feeling. Sidda couldn't see them but the bruises on her back and shoulders had to be atrocious considering they felt as tender as ever. The bone healers weren't even close to finishing and her head still hurt.

The door to the hospital room opened as she negotiated with her body about pulling a shirt on. Movement in the shoulders was like a personal challenge but she soldiered through it.

Sparatus froze as the scene he walked in on, Sidda was trying to pull a shirt on over her naked torso, her back was covered with deep bruises and that was all he saw of her. "My apologies, Commander." He stated obviously embarrassed by invading her privacy. "I'll come back."

Sidda succeeded in getting the shirt over her shoulder and buttoned it up quickly. She had never been shy and this was no different. Between the Alliance and the _Lante_ she was used to a little nudity and unless the Turian could see around corners he didn't see anything anyway. "No. It's okay." She managed out in obvious discomfort. "What can I do for you, Councilor?" she asked as the discomfort began to subside to a degree.

Sparatus turned back toward her and looked the human battlemaster up and down. She was battered and bruised but she still looked better than she did when they dug her out from under what was left of the tower. "First of all, how are you?" he asked. The council had been briefed on what happened on Mars by Kaidan and he found himself more worried about her condition then he'd expected.

Sidda brushed it off but it was obvious she was in pain. "I'll survive. I think."

He didn't expect a different response from her. The short amount of time serving on a Turian ship made her pick up some of their habits. Injuries came with the job and they healed. Because of the habits she'd picked up he tended to speak to her like he would a Turian and he understood what Victus and Nov were attracted to. He couldn't help but feel a little of that attraction himself. "I trust you know how the session went."

Sidda snorted. Kaidan just briefed her on it but she knew back on Earth when Anderson sent her away how that would go with the Council. "What? That you're burying your heads in the sand again? I could have bet a year's pay on that." She replied disdainfully. "It's a mistake…if we don't pull together the Reapers will wipe us out."

He respected her honesty, but the past had told him that he needed to work with her and believe her even if he didn't believe it himself. "I agree." He stated and she figured he as much but he was as hard-headed a Turian as they came. She didn't forget that he was her biggest naysayer when it came to the Reaper threat, the question now was would he step up now. "But we must look after our people, they're scared and if Palaven falls so will the galaxy."

Sidda scoffed to the ego…the gall. "That's quite the ego there, Sparatus." She replied and he narrowed his gaze in a you know better than that look.

Sparatus didn't yell or raise his voice most of the time. In this instance he leveled his gaze and sighed. "Think about it, Commander, the majority of the Reaper forces are occupied by our fleet above Palaven, where do you think they'll go if our fleet falls?" he asked and Sidda relented seeing his point.

"I see your point." She stated now regretting her words to him. "So, I'm assuming you're not here to tell me how much you _can't_ help me."

"Indeed." He replied and took a deep breath before proposing his plan. "I can't give you what you want but I can tell you how to get it. We need help, Shepard, uniting us in a war summit is a start but we cannot leave Palaven undefended, all our forces are needed where they are. Go to Menae and extract Primarch Fedorian."

Sidda narrowed her eyes to him. "How does extracting Fedorian help me?"

Sparatus snorted and cocked his head to her. She was a very good strategist, or at least that's what Victus had reported. "You never struck me as short sighted, Commander, a grateful Primarch would be a tremendous ally in your bid to unite us."

"Fedorian _doesn't _like me. Like Adrien, I don't play by the rules." She said and Sparatus' expression didn't change. She thought a moment, he had a point. They needed him. The last time she had anything to do with Fedorian he forced her off the _Lante_ because Victus pissed him off. "Alright, I'll do it." She stated and Sparatus nodded sharply pleased with her decision.

"Excellent." He said and turned to leave but paused turning back toward her. "And one more thing, I've chosen to uphold your Spectre status."

It was an interesting choice of words when he said 'I've' and it made her curious. "You?"

Sparatus bickered with Valern for an hour over her and longer with her own damn representative. Udina _really_ didn't think much of her. It was sad that he as the Turian councilor respected her more than her own people did. "It was my vote." He began to leave and she stopped him again.

"Wait." She began and the tall Turian turned toward her. "I never got a chance to thank you for the letter at my Tribunal. I didn't get to read it but whatever you said made an impression and I wanted to thank you for that."

Sparatus gave a single nod. "Save the Primarch, Commander, and you may just save the galaxy."

* * *

_**Note: I saw the mod that had the roles reversed on Mars a long time ago and always wanted to use it. **_


	3. Chapter 3: The Primarch

_**Note: Hello, everyone! With all the stuff going on in the world I do hope this finds you well and safe. I apologize for the delay on this chapter but I don't like to rush through it. **_

_**Feedback is always appreciated and thank you for reading. If you are in need of someone to talk to during this global crisis please feel free to IM me. **_

_**Please enjoy Chapter Three: The Primarch**_

**Mass Effect**  
"Foreign Relations"

**Chapter Three: The Primarch**

The _Normandy _was stocked full before they left the Citadel. With her Spectre status upheld she had access to all the best inventory for armor and weapons and with dock crew loaded the ship in record time. Sidda knew that either Udina or Sparatus had something to do with that and as much as she wanted to wait for Nov to come back before she left, Sparatus was insisting that she didn't have time to wait for however long it took Nov to get the _Havincaw _back to the Citadel.

Dr. Michel griped as well, Sidda was nowhere near healed and swore she'd give that councilor a piece of her mind when she saw him. The only reason she didn't was that Chakwas was onboard and had already taken steps to make sure Sidda was okay.

Chakwas ordered Sidda to be in Medical whenever she wasn't somewhere else. Bone healers were a fantastic invention like Medigel but even they had a maximum dose limit. Too much medigel made you jittery, too much Bone healers made you sick and shaky. Sidda was given the maximum and remained in medical for monitoring. The maximum dose made her stomach turn. On top of that Chakwas monitored her head injury and the implants that Cerberus grafted into her. The implants were aiding in the healing and it was staggering. When Chakwas first examined her after she was brought back from the dead she wasn't sure how deep they went with the upgrades, now she knew. The implants were state of the art and the biotic amp was maintaining the head injury as well as any medical interface could.

"You should not go into a combat zone, Commander, you can barely move." Chakwas lectured. It was her medical opinion but, in this case, there was no medical override. The situation was too dire.

"I'll be fine, Doc." She said quietly but she was in pain. Her head still hurt, the concussion was healing, and her shoulders were still in pieces. "Once I get in the armor I'll be okay."

"I'll issue you a cocktail of meds so you can function if you are insisting on the idiotic notion of going into combat. A mild painkiller for now. I can't in good conscious let you go down into combat under the influence of a narcotic. You're already going to be a liability." She said and was brutally honest with what she had to say. Someone else could just as easily recruit the Primarch but she left that someone else – Kaidan – on the Citadel. Sidda heard her and allowed Chakwas to do what she needed to do to help heal her injuries.

* * *

Leaving Kaidan on the Citadel was his decision, he needed to work out his path. Udina asked him to be a Spectre, something Sidda believed he would be great at, it was a huge opportunity for him even during a war. They still hadn't worked their differences out completely, but it was better than it had been. It took almost two hours to get to their destination and Sidda spent it all in Medical before taking a brief tour ending in the armory.

Pulling the armor on hurt but she knew that going in. She her right-hand shook holding the Mattock rifle she thought about the intelligence of her actions. Was she going to be a liability over anything else? If so, the conditioned military mind she possesses, screamed at her to stay behind. She thought back to the Citadel too, she stopped Saren with internal bleeding…a headache and broken bones should pale by comparison.

She managed to shoulder the Mattock and prepped the Predator pistol; she'd defer to that unless she needed to use something bigger. Vega and Liara would suffice as her fireteam, she didn't know what she was walking into but Liara could handle herself and Vega proved to be a good solider if not a little brash.

* * *

The state of Palaven caused a knot in her stomach, the planet was on fire and the fleet was in a brutal fight. Sparatus briefed her on Rylo via the QEC while she was in route, the 3rd Division managed to prove that the Reapers could be destroyed but it took far too much firepower to manage it efficiently. Sidda and Liara both worried about Garrus, neither one of them had heard from or about him in months. Sidda had lost track of him while she was on Earth and if Nov knew where he was he never told her.

Menae was Palaven's largest moon and it had an atmosphere, most of its metrics were classified and if she knew the Turians, whatever they were hiding was probably underground. The _Normandy _slipped in undetected and deposited the Kodiak on Menae. It was a warzone as soon as the shuttle door opened and Sidda fired a few shots from the pistol but regretted it immediately. Body mechanics were never more prevalent then when you had something broken then all the shock from whatever you were doing stopped at the break like an earthquake. Her right shoulder took the brunt and she felt _all_ the broken pieces of her scapula absorb it. She growled through it and deferred to her biotics, they hurt less but any sort of movement hurt. This was a bad idea.

Petrus Corinthus reminded her of Victus, tall, handsome, serious…typical Turian. Since her stint on the _Lante_ she found Turians more attractive to her then Humans. It was disturbing on some level. He looked her up and down, the black armor with the Spectre emblem was all he needed to confirm who she was. Earth only had one Spectre. "Not that I don't appreciate the help but what brings a Council Spectre here?" he asked and resumed his work over the monitor. Sidda was out of practice at reading Turian script and it was flying by too fast on the screen so she had no idea what it said.

"My name is Commander Shepard, I need to extract Primarch Fedorian to chair a War Summit with the Salarians and the Asari." She told him and the pause from Corinthus told her everything she needed to know before he even opened his mouth. Turians were easy to read for her now.

"Primarch Fedorian is dead, Commander, his shuttle was shot down as it tried to leave Menae a half an hour ago." He said in a professional tone. Being that he was a general Corinthus probably knew Fedorian well just like Victus did.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know him well but I knew he was a good leader." She said and Corinthus accepted the platitude.

"He was terrific leader and he would have made an outstanding diplomat." Corinthus said to her.

With Fedorian dead her options narrowed. "What's the situation?"

"We just lost 400 men in a half an hour, Commander, what's that tell you? We set up advance positions on this moon to flank the enemy but the it's all…."

"Irrelevant."

He gave a curt nod that reflected the buried frustration. "Exactly, the sheer force of the Reapers make them immune to that tactic but now we're committed no matter what."

Sidda wanted to help them but needed the help for Earth first. Turian's could hold…but for how long. "I hate to sound crass, General, but who's next in line for Primarch?"

"Palaven Command would know but right now we can't send any communications out. The tower is down and my men are having a hard time getting to it for repairs." He explained. "Husks keep swarming the area."

"Let me try and help you with that, I get to the comm tower help you men."

Corinthus gave a single nod, he wasn't going to turn away any help and even he knew Shepard's reputation. "As soon as it's up I'll send a message to Palaven Command."

The roadblock for Corinthus' men was the sheer number of Husks, they just kept coming. Sidda still didn't use her weapons and stuck with only the biotics. It still hurt but not as much, reave was the best thing she had as it drained life from whoever she threw it at and gave her a boost that felt like a high. The fight wasn't hard once everyone was together and gave the Turian engineer time to do his job and repair the tower.

"Commander, are you okay?" Vega asked as she was slow to get to her feet. On the bright side her head didn't hurt anymore…her shoulders on the other hand.

"I'm alright." She replied and Corinthus cut in summoning them back to the main barricade.

"Thank you for your help, Commander, succession is usually simply but right now the hierarchy is in chaos. So many dead or MIA." Corinthus commented as she leaned on the barricade with a slow exhale. He didn't ask about the pain, but she was definitely in pain.

"I will take you, General, if need be but I need someone to come with me." She said now starting to sound irritated. Everyone was in a bad situation and Corinthus didn't let any of her tone bother him. Corinthus looked over his shoulder to the Turian coming off the top of the barricade across from his.

"I'm on it, Sidda." A very familiar voice said and drew the immediate attention of Sidda and Liara both.

"Garrus!" Sidda felt a wave of relief seeing the scarred Turian she considered to be her closest friend stroll across the lane and up into the barricade with her. He looked the same, blue and black heavy armor and, as always, the black Spectre HMWSR Mk.X that was a gift from Sidda and his most treasured possession. "Glad to see you in one piece."

"You as well, Sidda." He replied and shook her hand noting how 'rough' she looked then turned his attention to the other person he recognized. "You too, Liara."

"Vakarian, Sir." Corinthus saluted and Sidda raised an eyebrow. The general just saluted him and called him 'sir'. Odd.

"We know who we're looking for, Sid, and you're not going to believe this…" Garrus said and Corinthus finished it

"The next Primarch is General Adrien Victus." Corinthus said and Sidda stepped forward, shocked and surprised.

"Oh, Christ, I don't believe this." she said with a sigh. It would be nice to see him again and to make sure he was okay but it was also the last thing she needed right now. Drama with her ex-lover in the middle of a warzone.

Corinthus looked at her with a quizzical expression. "There a problem?"

She hoped they'd cleared the air at the Tribunal but only time would tell. Turians were territorial which meant they could be jealous and possessive. "Personal history. That's all…where is he?"

"I was fighting alongside him this morning." Garrus said and she nodded.

"Do you remember where you left him?"

* * *

Garrus, Sidda, and Vega quickly made their way to the last location of the Victus. After a brief gun battle on Corinthus' main barricade and their first encounter with something they were all calling a 'Brute' they pressed on. Garrus was retracing his steps but was still amazed that of all the Turians on the moon the Sidda and Victus would wind up in the same place.

"You know I think the universe is saying something, Sid." Garrus said and she followed him keeping an eye out for Reapers.

"Uh-oh." She replied and he chuckled.

"In this whole damn war, you and Adrien wind up on the same Moon. Not only that but you have been sent to get him." Garrus said and she listened to his comments. "The spirits like you two as a match."

"Am I missing something, Lola?" Vega asked as they got closer to the command post Victus has set up.

Sidda didn't answer Vega right away and disagreed with Garrus' interpretation. Being with Victus was wonderful, he was great but it wasn't meant to be. "They didn't like us together at all. I'm married now, Garrus."

Garrus chuckled. "I know. And don't get me started on Tali getting a wedding invitation and not me." He said. "I hear she caused quite the stir among the Turian males.

Sidda laughed lightly as she remembered the Turian's mesmerized by the Quarian that was her maid of honor. "Only one of my wedding party that was armed the whole time. Had no idea she'd become famous for that."

As Garrus laughed Vega asked his question again. "Commander, something I should know with you and the General?"

She shook her head. "Victus and I have a history. That's it."

The chatter after that was mainly about the current situation and how everyone needed to drop their differences and just work together. It never happened that way, no one ever just stopped hating others to defeat a common enemy without concessions. The Krogan and the Batarians needed to be at this summit but that was never going to happen. Krogan hated the Salarians and Turians too much and the Batarians, had they not been wiped out already, had the same relationship with Humans.

Clearing a rise showed them an aerial battle between a large Turian frigate and one of the Reapers on the ground. Sidda recognized the frigate firing on the Reaper, older and bigger than the usual frigate. After spending a year on it she'd never forget it. It was the _Lante_ attempting to hold her own in a one on one fight about 100 feet above the surface.

"That's the _Lante_!" Sidda shouted and paused watching it take a direct hit to the midships. "That's Victus' ship." She clarified for the uninitiated.

Garrus trotted the edge of the rock face and looked up as the frigate began to list to the right. An explosion secondary to the reaper hit was seen on along the dorsal side of the ship as the thrusters fired to level off. She was going down, in a lateral spin and losing altitude. The ship seemed to be under some power as the pilot, probably Ruvio, tried to set her down in one piece. The frigate pretty much backed into the rock formation across the valley but seemed mostly intact. The impact smashed the right wing so there was no way she was getting back up, but the important thing was that the _Lante_ was intact and there was no explosion. "He's not on it." He assured. Victus had been on that ship for a while. He led the ground crew into the fight, that was how Garrus bumped into him.

"Commander, how many people on that ship? 75?" Vega asked and Sidda felt a rush of emotion from sadness to anger.

"130." She replied. "I served on that ship."

"Hard to see a beautiful ship like that go down." Vega said carefully, it didn't matter the military you were in there was a comradery during an emergency like this. "At least she went down swinging."

Garrus didn't want to be insensitive but he didn't have time to be polite. "We need to go, Sid." He stated and Sidda looked away from the downed frigate and followed Garrus to the firebase.

She fell in line behind Garrus with Vega behind her. After a few seconds they came around a bend to find a few soldiers tending to some wounded. "Soldier," Garrus greeted. "you guys okay?"

"Yes, Sir, we'll make it." One of them replied as Sidda handed him a few more medigel packs.

"Have you seen Victus?" Garrus asked quickly.

"A little way ahead at the firebase." He replied and Sidda slowly turned toward the way he'd indicated.

"Sid, before we go in there. Are you okay?" Garrus asked and she was surprised that he hadn't asked before now. Falling off the barricade and then coming face to face with the Brute nearly made her cry and he saw that but didn't say anything.

Sidda was both tired of being asked that and being in pain, the look on her face reflected that. "She went toe to toe with a Cerberus Mech on Mars." Vega said and Sidda grumbled to herself, she didn't like being vulnerable but here she was…injured in a combat zone.

Garrus gave her a concerned look. "How bad is it?"

"Head injury, broken shoulders, skull fracture." She said and waved him off. "I'll survive, just a little tender. Let's go."

* * *

The sound of four small explosions caused them to quicken their pace. All three of them identified them as proximity mines, the firebase probably had them set up to catch any intruders. Sidda was running out of time. The firebase had a decent location and was set up well but the Reapers didn't play by any rules. The arrived in force and overwhelmed any defenses they found. They sent wave after wave at them which caused a problem for the Turians.

As they moved in on the area things got worse, cannibals, Husks and Brutes. It was becoming a hell of a firefight and she couldn't just use her biotics anymore. The Mattock was felt across both shoulders, but she'd live…maybe. Vega and Sidda were back to back fending off husks. She was sending a lot of biotics into in the mix and husks were being torn apart.

Trying to systematically take them down was working. The three Brutes were the hardest, however. At the main barricade with Corinthus she was able to take one down with her biotics alone, an impressive display but she didn't think she had that in her twice. The firepower it took to take one down was troubling, but Vega demonstrated that the Mattock could do the job without much fuss as he managed to knock one of them down before it crushed them both.

The fight wasn't over. She could see Victus at a Command Post firing at a Brute that was making its way toward them, if the Brute hit the post it could crush the occupants or knock them off. Either way it was bad.

"Garrus! Vega! The Brute!" she yelled and ran toward the Command Post to head off the Brute. "Bring it down!" Victus was up there and she would be damned if she was going to let him get hurt.

Victus made a double take recognizing the voice shouting orders; that was Sidda. Her armor was different, not the black and yellow he was used to but it was her…he was sure of that.

"Bring it down!" she yelled again and used the same tactic she did on the other one. This one was bigger and closer. Victus and his men trained their fire on the Brute also as it charged and tried to smash Sidda between it and the Command Post structure. She rolled out of the way and heard the familiar sound of Garrus' sniper rifle. If any conventional weapon they had could do the trick it was that one. A few more Reaper enemies were still present and Sidda was slow to get out of the way of the Marauder. Two Turian figures appeared in front of her and shielded her. One had a helmet on and the other one didn't. The one with the helmet she knew was Maridus just by his armor, black and orange, the other was Cerrus of all people.

"Clear?" she heard Vega yell as they finally found the end of the Reaper attack. Probably wouldn't be forever but it would be long enough for her to get what she wanted.

Maridus and Cerrus hears the same thing Victus had and jumped off their barricade to help Sidda and Maridus reached down to help pick her up.

He pulled on her left arm. "No. No. No." she cried out in pain a little louder than she wanted to.

"The beast didn't hit you," Cerrus commented curious about the clear pain she was in. "you okay?"

They were only trying to help but she couldn't survive help right now. "I'm fine." She growled out as she managed to get up on her own.

"She had a run in with a synthetic on Mars." Vega explained as he came over to make sure she was in one piece.

Sidda regained her composure and looked up to see her former lover. "Adrien." She greeted with an uneasy tone. She wasn't sure how he would react to seeing her again.

Victus was surprised to see her to say the least. It was a welcome surprise for him though, if she was in his ranks this fight could end a totally different way. "Sidda." He greeted in kind. She approached him and he took her hand in both of his. "Glad to see you are okay." He said and Sidda allowed an awkward smile. "Vakarian, where did you go?" he asked turning his attention to the mission and releasing her hand.

"Reaper attack on the left, I believe your exact words were 'Get that thing the hell off my men'." Garrus replied and Victus nodded, he and Garrus had their differences but in the end he was a hell of a solider.

"Appreciate it..." Victus turned his attention back to Sidda and asked the obvious question. "I can't wait to find out why a Council Spectre is here." He said and she sighed.

"Oh, you're not gonna like it, Adrien." she told him and he cocked his head to her. "we've come to extract you. We need you to chair a War Summit with the Asari and the Salarians."

Victus looked at her confused. "Why me?"

"You're the new Primarch, Adrien. Fedorian was killed earlier today." She stated and he looked at her more shocked than confused this time.

"What?" he breathed and walked away from them to look at a view of his home planet burning. Sidda walked up to stand next to him. "I'm Primarch of Palaven?"

"Adrien…I need you." She said. "Look at that destruction, double it for Earth. I was there when they hit. I saw it." Victus was silent as he listened to her talk; he heard the break in her voice and knew how she felt. "The Council won't help me but Sparatus gave me an option to come get you and start organizing a fleet."

Victus moved his head to the side toward her but didn't look at her. "I'm not a politician, Sidda, I'm a soldier and I piss people off you know that." He said and she put her left hand on his arm.

"You're perfect, Adrien, you know how to get things done and you're not afraid to stomp on anyone's toes." She said trying to persuade him to help her out. This wasn't something she could do on her own and was completely sincere. "Please…I need you, Adrien."

Hearing her say that was a shot in the arm for him though it was taken out of context. She needed him for his pull and his fleet not because she loved him. It felt better to believe that she loved him but that was over. Either way…not much was going to stop him from helping. "Okay." He relented after a few long moments of thought. "Give me a moment with my men."

"Of course." She nodded as Victus walked away from her. She looked around to the Turians that had gathered to find out what was going on and found several familiar faces. Cerrus, Kalvaris, Masso, Ruvvak, Desala, all of them from the _Lante_ that was crashed in the valley below them.

"Sidda," Kalvaris called moving up to her. "any word on Thessia?"

Sidda remembered that he was raised on Thessia and his mate was an Asari Commando. "The Councilor said the Reapers were pressing but hadn't entered Asari space yet." She said and Kalvaris sighed but it was a sigh of relief. "If I hear anything about Yarazia I'll get a message to you."

"Thank you." He replied sounding like it was the first bit of relief he'd had in a long time. She understood, not knowing where Nov was impacted her the same way. "Last I knew she was on leave in Armali but she could be anywhere now."

Sidda offered him a reassuring smile. "I'll keep an eye out for her."

"What's happening?" Masso asked, it was clear there was an attack but beyond the Fifteen-Minute Plan that Coronati and Victus came up with they didn't know much beyond Palaven under attack.

Sidda looked at him and then to the rest who were as of now just defending their homeworld without much more knowledge than that. "Reaper invasion. They took out the Batarians when they poured through their relay, attacked Earth, Rylo, Taetrus, and Gammae."

She had their undivided attention but Ruvvak scoffed. "Fuck, that means you were right this whole time?" he commented as he reloaded his Phaeston. "Damn bastards never even prepared us for it."

It was a shared sentiment but they were in it now so there was no use bitching about it so Cerrus pounced on the opportunity to remind everyone of that. "Keep that talk to yourself, Sergeant, we're in it now." Cerrus ordered casually. Negative morale was contagious.

Victus joined the group with Maridus in tow. "Damar, I'm giving you a battlefield promotion." He told him and both Maridus blinked the surprise away…he'd been bucking for it but wasn't expecting a warzone to earn it. "You and Corinthus hold this moon. We have to hold it. If we lose Menae we lose Palaven."

Maridus was his most trusted officer. He'd groomed him since he was a Captain and held on tight when people tried to promote him out of his command. The son of two generals…strategy was in his blood. "Yes, Sir." He nodded as Victus extended his hand to him. Nothing profound came to mind besides that, everything else sounded idiotic in his head.

"Good luck, General Maridus." He said as Cerrus and Sidda looked at each other as the rest murmured, Maridus was a general. He would be the third active serving General named Maridus. His mother and his father were still active duty though he had no idea where either of them were.

Maridus swallowed hard and nodded to him. He owed Victus everything that was his career, the ups and downs both. Half his face was different because of him but Victus was the best officer he'd ever served with. "You also, Sir." Somehow this felt like goodbye and it was an unsettling feeling.

Victus turned to SIdda after that was settled. He would help her, but it wasn't as simple as that. "Sidda, I appreciate the need for our fleets but I can't spare them. Not while my world is burning." He told her and Sidda cursed quietly. There was always a catch.

"Always a catch." She muttered irritability. "Adrien, I need those fleets. I need your help."

Everyone was in the same situation. Earth was burning and needed help, Palaven was burning and needed help. There was no easy win. "I understand that, but my people need them as well. We need the Krogan, I can't see us winning this without them."

No matter how much the Krogan loved a fight they may just pass up helping the Turian's against the Reapers. "The Krogan? Are you kidding?"

Victus straightened his posture, it sounded crazy but tactically sound. "That's the price." He said firmly. "I'll help you; I give you my word, but I can't let my people die to save yours."

Sidda understood the need to save their people and had to remember that it wasn't just Earth in this but the rest of the galaxy as well. She nodded. "Fine. I'll figure that out."

Victus turned to his group. "Ruvvak. Cerrus. You're coming with me. Ready when you are, Commander."

* * *

After speaking to Hackett, Sidda stepped down to the War Room, her eyes fell on Victus. It was strange to see him on the _Normandy_. Though she could see it from his side it still hurt to be dumped like that after what was only a few weeks for her. Victus was the first person she could say she truly loved and she'd be lying if she said she didn't love him still at least on some level. He looked troubled and she couldn't blame him given the recent events.

"You okay?" she asked approaching him quietly.

Being around her was still awkward, there was no real closure between them. He ended the relationship, things got hostile, then better, then she got married to someone else…figuring out how to behave was harder than he anticipated. "I'm fine." He replied simply but she knew by his tone that it wasn't the truth.

"Come on, Adrien, you can't lie to me…I know you too well." She stated and Victus sighed, she did know him well.

He relented and ignored the odd feeling between them and spoke to her as he would a friend. "The battle of all time is raging on my planet and I'm light-years away reading casualty reports in the millions." He said sounding frustrated and defeated at the same time. "I still can't stomach the idea of leaving."

Sidda leaned on the table beside him and he eyed her trying to decide if he was comfortable with the proximity. "I understand, leaving Earth to save it…it was one of the hardest things I've ever done."

She was right, that was exactly how he felt. "I now realize why leaders so often seem lonely and I understand the burden you bear." He stated and snorted. "I wish I could take back all the grief I gave Fedorian now."

Sidda giggled softly to his comment. "How is it on Palaven?" she asked.

Victus still hadn't moved from his braced posture on the table. "You saw it. The Reapers have attacked with paralyzing, overwhelming force. The strategist in me admires their brutality but the Turian in me knows I'm watching 15,000 years of civilization." He stated and stood up straight with a low grumble. He was frustrated and she could tell. "Thank you for the use of the _Normandy_."

Sidda nodded, it was no trouble, Victus was welcome wherever she was. There was no reason why they couldn't have a professional relationship. They were adults after all. "It's no problem." She replied offering him a smile. "What's the status of the _Lante_?"

That was another thing that upset him. His beloved ship crashed and he wasn't sure about the official casualty count yet. "Wrecked, but if we can stop the fighting Zara assures me she's salvageable. She tried to keep casualties and damage to a minimum as they went down." He said and his tone was quiet.

"Traynor's finding room for everyone. Should have a temporary barracks set up shortly." She said and he looked down at her as she fiddled with the buttons on the war table.

The _Normandy_ was a small ship and he appreciated the effort to make them comfortable. "Thank you." He said and she nodded. "I'll let you work. If you need anything comm me." Victus grunted his response. This was the worst day anyone could think of and it was going to get worse before it got better…if it even got better.

* * *

After a mandatory visit to Chakwas where she was told she was ordered to rest, Sidda made her way to where she knew Garrus was. The Main Battery probably calibrating the _Normandy's_ weapons to the point of madness.

"Well, you didn't waste much time." She commented as Garrus was busily doing exactly what he did best.

"Gotta keep busy."

Sidda snorted understanding that very feeling. "I hear that." She said and sighed tiredly. "I had to ask…I noticed Corinthus saluted you on Menae. How far down the line of succession are you?"

Garrus was quiet for a minute. "Don't go there." He replied and she chuckled.

"If Adrien doesn't work out you could be next." She giggled and he gave her a look. "Primarch Vakarian, honored war hero."

"Sidda." He warned and she chuckled some more.

"Where's your side kick? I didn't see her with you down there." At first, she'd been leery of Isla but she grew on her. The former Blue Suns merc was extremely handy in the Terminus and she was good for Garrus, he needed a hobby apart from calibrating a giant gun.

Garrus stopped what he was doing and stood up straight. He was worried about the people he cared about but so far just kept it to himself. "I'm not sure." He replied after a moment. Isla's location worried him, he needed to know but as of yet hadn't gotten a message from her. "Last week she got a message from Zaeed and left to help him. I don't know where she is now."

"Do you know where she went?" she asked.

"Terminus I think. Knowing Zaeed it probably has something to do with the Blue Suns."

"What about the rest of your family?" she asked, and he paused before doing anything else. "Have you heard from them?"

"No. My Dad and sister are on Palaven but I'm not sure where they are." His tone told her not to press it. Life was going to be hard for them anyway and people needed to process loss, worry, and fear in their own way. At least she had him back, Garrus was her friend and she cared as much for him as she did for Nov and Victus.

"You'll hear from them." She said trying to give him a little hope. Sidda hadn't heard from her mother either but she couldn't think about that right now. Garrus was right about one thing… it was going to be bad all over.

The platitude was nice but Garrus was a cynic. "You should sleep, Sidda," he commented after her long silence made him look at her. She'd lost herself in thought, pain, or exhaustion. "you don't look good."

It was a solid idea, she was tired, and the adrenaline of the day was wearing off, pain was coming back, and rest was calling her name. "Yeah, that's what Chakwas said. You rest too okay."

* * *

The _Normandy_ had a small Turian contingent on it now, not only Garrus and Victus but the two plucked off Menae with the general. Cerrus and Ruvvak were busy making a makeshift bunk in the Life Support compartment. Thane's old haunt. It was empty and not really meant for housing but unless they wanted to add another layer to the hot bunking that occurred on the ship anyway, they needed to make this home. Turian's had a different sleep cycle from Human's anyway. They didn't need eight hours normally and were used to a longer day.

The gear they brought with them was mostly weapons and armor but they had some food supplies that she knew she was going to have to replenish at the Citadel. "Settling in?" she inquired as she observed Cerrus and Ruvvak checking the contents of a few crates as some helpful Human crew members helped them set up the cots.

Cerrus looked up at nodded before closing his crate and approaching her. "Yes. We'll need more rations. We didn't bring many, didn't want to short everyone we left on Menae."

Sidda nodded quietly and was still not sure why Victus brought them along. He always had his reason but it had been a hard day as it was so it could be answered later. As much as he irritated her, it was good to see Cerrus again, but he didn't look like his normal surly self. He looked weary, which for any other Turian would be understandable, but not him. He was solid, battle-hardened, grumpy but he looked lost. "Are you okay?" she asked and recognized that he was from a colony that had been attacked, Taetrus.

"No."

"Your family?" she asked, and he looked down at her sharply almost surprised that she would ask. "I know you're from Taetrus."

He was surprised but he wasn't sure why. He knew more about her then he let on and it was clear the opposite was true for her. He had gotten word from his mother, the ever-vigilant soldier. "They can't find my older brother." He answered simply and changed the subject. "Excuse me."

As he left to go do whatever it was that he set off to do Sidda didn't get a clear impression that he was only acting strange because he was worried about family. Something else was bothering him so her eyes fell on the tank sized Turian kicking a crate where it needed to go. "Linus," she began and stepped closer to him. "what's with him?"

Ruvvak considered the answer for a moment then decided he didn't have the patience to take the long route. "He resigned."

Sidda blinked and tried to form a question but only "What?" came out.

Cerrus resigning was the biggest thing to happen on the _Lante_ since the blowout with Nov and Victus. It didn't make anyone happy but those who knew him and knew his story saw it coming like a bomb even though they tried to talk him out of it. "That's why we're in orbit of Palaven. The General accepted his resignation and then this whole thing jumped off and he got sucked into a ground war on Menae."

"Why in the hell would he resign?" she asked and thought back to the first time he tried that. It was a few months ago when he tried to resign after learning the truth about his wife's death. Once she asked the question it became rhetorical and thankfully Ruvvak didn't give her sarcasm.

"Got tired of Palaven Command giving him the run around about what happened to his wife." Ruvvak answered with a tone that reflected how irritated he was. Ruvvak's irritation as attributed to the whole situation and everything that came with it. "Cerrus has over 20 years in the military. Distinguished service record…colorful…but distinguished and Palaven Command just tossed it right out the airlock." He went on and kicked a crate for good measure.

He was frustrated, clearly but there was more to it than just Cerrus. War affected everyone differently. "Are _you_ okay?" she asked as she was genuinely concerned for him. Ruvvak had given her a little trouble when he first met her but after that he was a great friend to have.

"I'm fine." He said with a clipped snap and Sidda didn't believe it. When a Turian said 'I'm fine' they usually weren't. "I'm a lucky one, Commander. I don't have a family or a home colony to care about." He stood in the middle of the half-made barrack with his hands on his hips and just kept going. "My parents died when I was a kid and I was a ward of Altakiril until I was 15. My squad mates are who I care about and I left them behind, Sid, why the fuck am I here?"

Sidda shrugged, regretted it, hissed and moved past it all in the span of ten seconds…it had been one of those days. "Victus always has a reason, Linus." She said and stepped up to him. He was short for a Turian but still much taller than her. "For what it's worth, I understand: leaving Earth in the middle of the fight…I get it. But, know that you'll be right next to me when we shove this invasion back down the Reaper's throat."

Ruvvak snorted, he'd always liked Sidda. He respected her on a profound level, not only was she was fantastic commanding officer, but she was one the most incredible individuals he'd ever known. Strong and driven, someone worthy of respect. "You could sell water to a drowning Turian." He commented and she chuckled.

"Get some rest, Linus, we have a hell of a fight ahead of us." She said and slapped his left arm before leaving him for her quarters. Cerrus had vanished and she made the mental note to check on him but not right now. It was best to give him space before showing empathy because he only had one speed when it came to be being upset and Sidda knew she couldn't handle him losing his temper on her. He'd kill her by poking her with a finger.

* * *

Sidda whimpered in pain as she tried to change shirts. She was healing fast just not fast enough and definitely overdid it on Menae. Chakwas ordered her to delegate missions to others until her shoulders mended better. Sidda doubted that she would be able to comply but as of now she had some downtime. There was a tap on the door and she grumbled. "It's open."

The door opened and Sidda turned to see Victus' figure in the doorway. He looked over the room slowly stepping in. He hadn't seen this part of the rebuilt ship, but he'd always liked the hybrid frigate. Just enough Turian in its design to feel like home. "Am I disturbing you?" he asked, and she gave up trying to hide the pained expression.

"No." she replied. "Actually, you're just in time. Gimme a hand."

Victus' expression narrowed as she stepped in so the door could close and quietly approached her. "With what?" he asked not seeing anything that he would be needed for.

"Help me get this off." She stated referring to her shirt and Victus froze in mid step. "I was able to get my armor off but I can't get out of this…adrenaline wore off so now everything hurts."

Victus spied the dark bruise that extended up the back of her neck and felt his anger build, he hadn't felt that in a while but seeing her hurt was something he still didn't like to see. "What happened?" he asked getting closer to her giving her the help she wanted. Of course, that ended up with her standing before him with nothing on from the waist up than a bra. He heard her hiss in pain as he quickly pulled the shirt off over her head and took a step back from her now able to see the extent of her injuries. Sidda's entire back was one big bruise but the discoloration was darker across her shoulder and up the back of her neck.

"A Cerberus mech damn near killed me on Mars." She stated grimacing in pain as she managed to slip her right arm into a button up shirt and then the left. "Both shoulders are fractured, bone healers are working as fast as they can." She said Victus turn away from her looking uncomfortable about her half naked body that he wasn't supposed to touch anymore.

"Do you always let your former lovers help you undress?" he asked and Sidda froze giving his back a look that could have killed him.

"Where the hell did that come from?" Sidda demanded, they'd been getting along so well since the Tribunal. "You left me remember?"

Victus didn't need to be reminded of that. To this day it was the hardest thing he'd ever done in his life. "I remember." The comment was leftover resentment but what was done was done. She didn't say anything after that and he turned back to look at her. He'd never seen her looking so beaten…not just physically. He could see the mental and emotional wear and tear. "Are you okay? Honestly."

She didn't answer right away, if she was being honest the answer was an emphatic no. Her worst nightmare had come to fruition, the Reapers were here. No one had listened and no one had prepared, now they were all sitting squarely on her broken shoulders asking for her to save them. She'd never be okay again. "No." she answered through a broken breath. "I'm not."

He carefully pulled her into a hug as she cried. "It's okay. Shhh." He soothed as he gently hugged her.

She couldn't even count how many people she knew and cared about that her missing or dead. "I'm losing people I care about. I…I nearly died on Mars…I've already done that once. I don't know what to do anymore…"

If she wanted to scream and cry, lose her composure, whatever, he was fine with it. Even Turians reached this point. "It's okay. It's okay. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. You're always safe with me." He said to her. He'd protect her and comfort her for as long as needed. It didn't matter their relationship.

The safety and security appealed, Earth had been attacked and she barely escaped then on Mars she remembered the first few hits and nothing from the Mech but when she closed her eyes now she was haunted by more than just Nihlus, the moment she realized she was about to suffocate, and the burning of Earth, now she saw that hand over her faceplate and the first impact. It was a claustrophobic feeling and it scared her. She wanted Nov but she couldn't have him now and being held by Victus chased the fear away at least for the time being and when she looked up at him the need to feel safe and protected overwhelmed her and she kissed him.

Victus was surprised and pulled back sharply. "Sid, this is…" he trailed off as he looked at her. "We-…" his comment was cut off as she kissed him again. The side of him that needed to feel her again won over the side of him the said everything about this was wrong.

Years he'd wished for this and now he had it, however wrong it was he would deal with at a later time. The morality was boxed, and he let her guide and push him to the bed then straddled him like she usually had. He removed the shirt she'd painstakingly put on and purred seeing her body again. Nov's mark flagged the guilt, but he was already down that road now. He grabbed her shoulders to play with her but she squeaked in pain, a sharp reminder that she was injured. After that he was gentle. For Sidda it was never a question of who the better lover was, Victus or Nov. They were different but neither better than the other. Nov was aggressive and playful while Victus was always gentle but possessive.

Victus didn't want to hurt her, she'd been through enough and knew she was looking for comfort and safety. It was wrong but he did it anyway. He changed positions and carefully laid her on her back before removing the rest of her clothes and tasting her again. Hearing her soft moans brought back all the memories of her and he wanted her more and more. He filled the dark cabin with her quiet moans as he made love to her. The ramifications, which were going to be huge, they'd deal with later.

* * *

The bed was empty when Sidda woke up, Victus was gone but nothing that happened the hours before was a dream. Sidda's head was spinning, what the hell did she just do? She knew what she did and it felt great, it was also very wrong. It was disconcerting to know that Nov, the Turian James Bond and a playboy to boot, was more faithful than she was. He was going to kill her, Victus, or both; he was also going to be crushed by what she just did.

She avoided everyone in her trek through the _Normandy_ especially the Turian bunk in Life Support since if Victus was anywhere at this hour it would be in there. Sidda needed to talk to someone that she trusted and entered the Main Battery glancing around to find Garrus. He wasn't asleep, she knew that. She spied him doing what he usually did, tweaking a gun but this time it was the sniper rifle. He loved that thing and he was damn good with it. "Hey," she greeted. "can we talk?"

Garrus grunted a response but could sense that something was up and looked over at her. It was early…or late depending on how you looked at it and she looked a little frazzled. "Yeah…something wrong?" Talking about her problems was better than thinking about his own. He couldn't get a message out to Isla or at least not a response to one he'd sent.

"I'd say so." She replied trying to relax her body, sex wasn't what her sore back and shoulders needed but in all honestly it did feel good. "Can you keep a secret?" she asked and even if he couldn't he say he could. You couldn't just walk away from a comment like that.

He dropped the tool on the table he had the rifle on and the act seemed to reiterate the giant fuck up she just embarked on and he just looked at her. "What's wrong?" he asked narrowing his eyes and standing up straight.

"I slept with Adrien." She blurted and Garrus blinked raising his brow. The first thing that came to mind was Nov was going to kill them both.

Garrus didn't know what to do with that. He was awkward enough in his own relationship. "You…oh…wow." He stammered trying to understand the complexities of Human relations. From what he'd experienced they were too different from Turians. "So, does that mean you and he-…"

She gave him a look. One thing she knew was that Nov was the man she loved, the one she wanted to be with forever. "I said I slept with him I didn't say we were getting back together." Sidda clarified and Garrus snorted shifting his weight seemingly uncomfortable.

"Yeah, I don't think Nov is going to see that distinction." He stated and asked the obvious. "You do know that Turians are-…"

"Territorial as hell?" she finished. "Yeah…I'm aware of that." Nov and Victus squabbled over her enough. She remembered the Oriso incident that made Victus jealous of Cerrus of all people.

"Oh, good…because he may just kill both of you for this." He replied. Turian's were known for going to extremes when it came to mates and honor, most of them nowadays in the evolved culture didn't go through those extremes. "He's from Rylo and they are very, very traditional. There's a traditional Rite of Honor that deals with infidelity…if he evokes that he has the right to confront the guilty party, the end result usually isn't very good."

Sidda considered that, Nov did get a little basic when it came to relationships. It was in the Rylo culture. She replayed the evening back to when it started. She kissed him…twice. This was all because of her. Nov may not kill her, but he also may not forgive her. "Why the hell would I do that?" she asked in a frustrated, exasperated tone. "What the hell was I thinking?"

Garrus wasn't sure what to say in response to that. "Sid…it's been an interesting past few days." He said and she scoffed. Neither one of them believed that as a valid excuse. "Yeah, I don't believe that either."

* * *

Sleep came but it only meant about four hours for Sidda, her mind raced until it raced her into the ground and she woke with the alarm. It was another day at War…the Reaper War and she had a summit to take care of today. Salarians, Turians, Humans, Krogan…it was a disaster waiting to happen. Victus being there was the other disaster waiting to happen, she didn't know what to expect. She followed her routine, showered, put her official uniform on, got breakfast and worked up the courage to go into the War Room.

"Why all shined up, Commander?" Ruvvak asked referring to her dress blues as she rode the lift with him and Cerrus.

"War Summit." She replied and the two Turians glanced at each other. She seemed to a little bit better than she had been the day before. The bruising around her eyes was still there but she'd covered it as well as possible for the time being, but they could still see come of it.

"You look better." Ruvvak observed. They'd heard that she's been injured when she came and got them and Cerrus respected her for her determination.

Her shoulders did feel better, still tender but she could move a little better. The Bone Healers were doing what they had been intended for once they had the time to do it. "I feel better." She said but just getting dressed was an event so it was better…not good. Handling sex the night before helped relax her but made her tense all at the same time. "Little bit anyway."

"Primarch's ordered us to help in the armory. We sent all of our weapons and gear down there last night." Cerrus said and she nodded figuring that is exactly where they would end up. Cerrus gravitated there anyway. She made a mental note to check in with Vega and Cortez after the event of the day were finished. She didn't see an issues from the two of them but Cerrus wasn't the easiest person to deal with. Ruvvak was fine but Cerrus may create issues.

"Let Cortez know if you need anything down there." She said and as the lift stopped and she stepped off onto the CIC. As she left Cerrus and Ruvvak shared a look, for Cerrus nothing needed to be said. Victus returned late to their barracks and it didn't take a genius to figure out something happened between Victus and Sidda.

* * *

In the War Room she found Victus and fought the urge to hide under a rock, how could she do that to Nov? The guilt was going to kill her but she needed to focus now. If she didn't manage to pull herself together the summit was going to be interest.

"Adrien," she greeted quietly as it was just them in the War Room at the moment. He was quiet, looking up from the casualty reports and studied her. "Ummm…I…that was a mistake." Victus was mildly offended but understood what she meant. Had he not ended their relationship months ago none of this would have been an issue but it was the bed he made. "I…I don't mean you're a mistake, I mean…"

It was almost amusing to watch her babble and it made him smile slightly. "Sidda, stop. It's okay." To have her for a night was a gift that he couldn't have twice. "I know what it was."

Sidda felt worse with that admission, she was out of sorts and looking for the nearest safe embrace. That safe embrace was the first person she could say she loved. The gentle General who loved her so much that he had to let her go. "I shouldn't have put you in that position…" she said and then recognized her poor choice of words. "Sorry. I mean…I…I'm sorry."

"Don't be." He said through a soft laugh as she stumbled over it, puns and all. "I'm not."

That response was a little more troubling then she wanted it to be and it just added to the confusion. "We can't do this again."

Victus wasn't a fool. He knew his chance with her died a slow and painful death, she was married and what they did the night before was wrong. Nov never acted on his feelings for Sidda until after it had all blown up. He owed him an explanation. If they survived this, he'd give him one. "I know."

"_Commander, the Salarian Dalatrass and Krogan Clan Chief are ready to come aboard."_ Traynor said over the comm.

She successfully broke the tension and awkwardness between Sidda and Victus. "Show them to the conference room." She ordered and sighed as the previous topic was shelved but not forgotten. "Well…wanna go see if we can start another war?"

Putting Krogan, Salarians, Turians, and Humans all in the same room together was a bomb waiting to go off. He didn't like it at all but bring the Krogan in was the only way he could see the tide of the war on Palaven turning. "The current one not enough for you?"

"We'll find out." She muttered.

* * *

Cerrus and Ruvvak were the definition of out of place in the _Normandy's _armory. A lot of things had changed since the last time either of them were on board. The Alliance really went all out in its renovations to bring it back to standard issue. Cerrus approved, the design was more practical than the Cerberus version.

"Well, this place has changed." Ruvvak commented and drew the attention of the two crew members on deck.

Cerrus grunted. "Like the old one." He said and looked at the two men approaching them. The shorter one he recognized from Menae. He was on Sidda's fireteam, but he didn't know the other one.

"Cerrus right?" Vega asked hoping that was the name he remembered from Menae. Cerrus gave a sharp nod and his cold demeanor showed through. Vega offered to shake his hand but Cerrus ignored it. "James Vega. This is Steve Cortez." He said awkwardly lowering his hand.

Cerrus' tolerance for Humans had grown a lot over the years but he still wasn't perfect. If he didn't _need_ to be friendly with them he wasn't. Ruvvak on the other hand…didn't have a problem with anyone. "Linus Ruvvak." He greeted with a happy tone. "Don't mind the Major, he's a little prickly."

Cerrus' silent glare did nothing to Ruvvak except confirm that he was, in fact, prickly. "We need a space to work on arms and armor."

Cortez nodded. Cerrus was to the point and he respected that. "No problem." He said and gestured to the bench and locker with three crates stacked neatly. "I stowed the gear that came with you. Help yourself to anything you need. Armor mods, weapon mods, whatever you need I can get."

Cerrus was indifferent about Cortez's accommodating nature but he didn't dismiss it. "Thank you." He said making to conscious effort to be nice.

While Cerrus tended to the General…or rather the Primarch's…armor he tried his very best to ignore Ruvvak and Vega who apparently bonded as fast friends. He was used to Ruvvak's behavior, the Sergeant was a good soldier and a friend but he was like his little brother, irritating and tiring. "Here's the servo replacement." A voice said and drew his attention from repairing the armor.

"Thank you." He said maintaining his manners. Cortez was quiet and seemed to just do his job without causing a fuss. Ruvvak and Vega hawked loud laughs. He gave them the glare he'd given his brothers multiple occasions.

"They're like children." He commented and actually got a snort from Cerrus. Cerrus was the biggest Turian Cortez had ever seen. Tall and broad with several small scars on the left side of his face.

"They remind me of my brothers." Cerrus muttered as he installed the servo and fixed the one that took a round on Menae. Jamus and Tannus bracketed him in the age but he was always the one that was quieter and more reserved. He had a quick flash of worry before he made it go away. No one knew where Jamus was.

"How many do you have?"

Cerrus decided not to be anti-social, he thought about Tali telling him to be nice until he decided he didn't like someone, but he couldn't decide he didn't like someone right off the bat. "Two. Older and younger."

He thought about the next question, if he wanted to ask it. Cerrus didn't appear to be the friendliest. "Are they safe?"

Cerrus didn't answer right away. Everything bad that happened to him usually came in clusters, this time it was the resignation, the attack, and missing family. He didn't want to talk about it. His mother, younger brother, and sister in law were reported safe but Jamus was missing. "I don't know." He replied and Cortez didn't push any further.

* * *

The conclusion of the Summit's first meeting was obvious, most came to the launch bay in some kind of mood. Wrex was one of them but the interesting one was Sidda and Victus. They came to the bay arguing. Cerrus grumbled to the argument, it wasn't that he didn't like relationship – it wasn't his business – but Victus was different around her and sometimes not for the best.

"Sidda, you're the Spectre, why am I going?" Victus asked as they came off the lift.

A little rest and relaxation did her body good and the bone healers were able to mend her shoulders to a better degree. They still hurt but she could at least move better. "Because this impending disaster show was your idea, Adrien." She replied. In the Summit, Victus had her back. He sided against the Dalatrass and promised to help Wrex cure the genophage, the hot button issue his people leveled on the Krogan. Sidda took his support and shanghaied him into tagging along on a mission that he suggested.

Victus shook his head. "You don't have any faith in your friend the Krogan?"

Wrex was smarter than any Krogan she'd ever met. He didn't want to make war on those who nearly destroyed his race. He wanted to fix it and return the Krogan to the galactic society. She trusted him and believed in him. Victus wasn't wrong to see that there was a little bit of doubt. "I barely contained Wrex on Virmire now I'm sending him down to the Salarian homeworld with a chance to cure the genophage. Picture, if you will, if this goes wrong."

This was going to go wrong anyway; any blind idiot could see that. "I understand that, Sid, but my presence will only serve to make things worse."

By now they had an audience trying to make it look like they weren't eavesdropping. He followed Sidda to the locker where her equipment was stored. "Why? The Primarch of Palaven personally overseeing the return of Krogan females to the Urdnot clan Chief."

It sounded good on paper but there was a lot of animosity between the races and after the display against the Dalatrass there was a little more now. "We deployed the genophage."

"Yeah…1,400 years ago. Time to let go and move on or we're all gonna die." She said and clapped his shoulder. "Suit up, Primarch, we're going to Sur'Kesh."

Victus' sigh reminded him of what it was like to be in a relationship with her. She was wonderful and he did love her but she aggravated the hell out of him.

* * *

Ruvvak and Cerrus protested the order to stay behind loudly, Victus was the damn Primarch now and he did have to order them both to shut up and stay put.

"Well, well…" a familiar voice said from behind Cerrus causing the Turian to turn. "if it isn't the surliest Turian in the galaxy."

Cerrus came close to a smile and stepped toward the Krogan. "Wrex, thought I smelled you." He said and Wrex laughed.

"The only Turian in the galaxy that can give a Krogan lessons on bad attitude. Shame you're not coming with us."

Cerrus gestured a thumb back to Victus. "You have him, you don't need me." It wasn't a suck up complement either Victus put them all to shame in tactics and combat prowess. He didn't get to be a general by sitting on his ass.

"Are you kidding, you stopped a charging Krogan with a pistol."

Cerrus remembered all too well, that was where the small scars on his face came from when the Krogan in question fired a shotgun inches from his face into the wall. "Hey, I nearly melted that Brawler and that was my favorite one."

"I'd feel a lot better if we were going with you, Sir." Ruvvak commented again as he checked the Primarch's gear. Victus took the weapon that Vega handed to him. The Phaeston wasn't his, he lost that somewhere on Menae, but the modification on it matched. Judging by the way it was modified the architect was Ruvvak. The scope, lengthened barrel, and a recoil buffer. The Phaeston was a good weapon but even when it was being tested over two years ago it tended to walk.

Victus grunted his response while checking the weapon but kept what he was thinking to himself. He'd feel better if Sidda hadn't voluntold him into accompanying her. It wasn't just the potential interspecies incident that was around the corner but also the fact that he slept with Sidda twelve hours ago. They were adults and could work together but he had no illusions about their relationship status…still it made things slightly awkward.

"Well, we kinda bull-rushed our way into this, if we take too many people down there the Salarians are libel to create an entirely new problem for us." Sidda replied and Victus agreed with that. The other members of the landing party were Wrex and Garrus. A trusted crew for Sidda especially in Garrus.

Cerrus had returned to his duty in checking out armor. He bypassed Garrus in the weapons area as he didn't need any help. The Spectre sniper rifle, which was still the envy of the soldier, was finely and meticulously calibrated…if he messed it up Garrus might just kill him. Now he came to his rival, Sidda. She'd been banged up a bit over the past few days and he kept that in mind as he went over her armor a he did everyone else's.

"It feels different," she commented as it felt better than before. Maybe her shoulders were healing faster. "What did you do?" Cerrus checked everyone's gear during the summit including hers.

"I adjusted it across the shoulders," he said and tapped a few things on his omni-tool. He wasn't an engineer but Turians were very good about working around injuries. Armor could be adjusted to be more comfortable to accommodate an injury like she had. "should give your shoulders some relief."

Cerrus continued to surprise, she didn't ask him to do this, he did it on his own. "Thank you." She said with an appreciative smile. Cerrus nodded and moved on.

The flight was quiet for the most part, Garrus of course knew the awkward silence was Sidda and Victus trying to sidestep the mess they created. "We need to talk about Cerrus." She commented after a long silence. Victus looked over at her seated to his left, his expression said it all. "Ruvvak told me." She said but left out his meltdown in the process.

Victus sighed with what was certainly an irritated growl. "I couldn't fulfill my promise."

Whatever Palaven's dirty little secret was it was locked up tighter than a drum. "After all this time, you still couldn't get them to fess up?"

"They revoked Desala's clearance and I was told, point blank, by Fedorian to stop asking." He said and scoffed to the fact that if they survived all this, he might be able to find the answers with the Primarch clearance.

"You're just gonna let him walk?"

"I stopped him six months ago because I thought I could help him. I can't, so if he wants to leave this is his decision." He explained and Sidda gave him a disapproving sigh. Victus knew that sigh, the sigh she gave him when she didn't like his answer but didn't say it outright.

"Don't give me that." He said and the shuttled shook heavily. They entered the atmosphere and ended the conversation between them.

* * *

The one that would cause an interspecies incident was not going to be Victus, Wrex made an entrance as only a Krogan could. He nearly started a firefight on the landing pad as the Dalatrass finally issued clearance to land.

As they waited for the go ahead to enter the labs Sid and Victus stayed as far apart as they could. It wasn't that they didn't work well together but it was the awkwardness of knowing they did a bad thing. "Isn't the one you used to rut with?" Wrex inquired with the worst tact in existence.

His comment snapped her from her thought. "Wrex." She scolded, that was not a topic of polite conversation.

Wrex wasn't as refined and he didn't aim to change. "What…you smell like him."

Sidda cringed. Turians and Krogan had a better than average sense of smell. "Oh…perfect." She had showered but apparently the scent remained.

Wrex knew about Sidda and Nov, knew they were married and knew that Sidda and Victus had a thing before that. "Why'd you do it?"

Sidda sighed, that was the question. Why did I do it? "Moment of weakness. Big one actually."

Wrex grunted his response, he cared for Sidda almost like he would a sister. "Where's Cal?"

Thinking about him only reiterated the mistake she made. "Citadel I think. He's gonna kill me when I tell him."

"Nah, any idiot can see how much he loves you." Wrex said and glanced over to Victus and Garrus talking to a Salarian who he recognized, Kirahee. The STG operative from Virmire. Wrex generally wasn't invested in someone else's love life but Sidda was different.

"I slept with someone else, Wrex, you can't tell me that Krogan males would forgive that let alone a Turian."

She did make a mistake; she made a big mistake but there was no way Nov would do anything to her or leave her. "No but sometimes, Kid, the desire to be with someone overrules the indiscretion. He'll be pissed but you two will be fine."

She wasn't so sure about that. Her guilt wouldn't let her see what Wrex saw but she was more shocked by Wrex himself. "Wow…warrior, reformer, and philosopher…you're a regular renaissance Krogan."

Wrex grunted a chuckle. Most people who looked at Wrex saw him as a dangerous thug but in reality, he was a softy when it came to people he cared about. "Did you get the wedding present?"

The change in subject was welcomed and she smiled remembering when the package arrived. "I did…I don't know what to do with it, but I got it." Nov commented that only Turians and Krogan sent weapons as wedding gifts.

Wrex cackled. "Hang them on the wall. When you and Cal get tired of each other use them to fight it out. Wedding blades are cheaper than divorce."

"I'll make sure I tell Cal that." She replied with a snort.

* * *

The only ones allowed to go down into the labs were Sidda, Victus, and Garrus. Wrex was forced to remain on the main level because the Salarians were worried about his reaction to whatever was hidden away below.

"I'm trusting you, Shepard, if the Primarch doesn't come through-…"

"He'll come through, Wrex, let diplomacy play out." She cut him off trying to be a sincere as she could. Whatever issues she may have with Victus she did trust him. "You have my word, Wrex." She said and joined Victus and Garrus in the elevator.

The alarm that had sounded before they took the elevator down to the lower labs worried them all and as soon as the elevator door closed Victus voiced his opinion. "Somethings wrong."

"Yep." She commented in response. "Reapers?"

If it were Reapers they picked an odd place to start when it came to Sur'kesh. Victus didn't think it was Reapers and he glanced to Garrus who was clearly alarmed as well. If this were Reapers they knew the intent but this felt like something else. "I don't think so."

"Same." Garrus commented.

The lower lab was bustling with activity. Salarians never slowed down as it was but with the sense of urgency it was like watching a disturbed hornet's nest. A familiar voice drew all of their attention, it was Mordin. The last time Sidda saw Mordin was just after she was confined to Earth. She and Nov were serious about children and he did a complete genetic work up on both of them. He was tightlipped on his job now that he was off the _Normandy_ but knowing him it was always complicated.

"Mordin?" she questioned.

"Shepard. Good to have you here."

Mordin being here made more sense than she had anticipated. Wrex was passed information from an inside source, Mordin being that source clarified things. She took issue with his work with STG but if there was anyone in the galaxy that could cure the Genophage it was this mad scientist in front of her.

There was definitely something wrong on the surface but Mordin bypassed everyone scurrying around. "Need to act quickly, Shepard. Alarm unusual, need to act quickly for sake of Krogan."

"How many survived?" Sidda asked as Victus and Garrus followed.

"One. Immune to genophage." He answered in a clipped, concise manner.

Sidda studder stepped at hearing that only one Krogan female was alive…that mean they had _one_ shot at this. The alarm was creating a bigger, looming sense of dread with that information.

Victus had the same thought as Sidda did and they shared a brief telepathic moment. If she was the only one, this alarm was too coincidental. He turned his attention to the Krogan in the shielded pod. The females were rare off Tuchanka, they were too valuable and were protected even by the nastiest Krogan males. "My name is Adrien Victus, Primarch of Palaven and this is Council Spectre Commander Shepard."

"Are you here to kill me?" she asked in a fierce tone. If the females were anything like the males they were not ones to tangle with.

"Why would we kill you?" Sidda asked as she stepped up to stand near the enormous figure of Victus in full armor.

Her tone didn't change, and she remained focused on the Primarch. "My sisters died in a lot of pain. I didn't, that makes me dangerous to a lot of people. So, I ask you again, Primarch, are you here to kill me?"

She didn't trust him, and he was okay with that. He needed to earn it, Turians and Krogan had a long-standing animosity and there was no time like the present to start mending old wounds. "Quite the contrary. I'm here to save you." He said with note of pride. He would be pleased a punch to be the one to facilitate the genophage cure. He would also be drummed off Palaven if the Krogan didn't responded with anything less than sheer gratitude.

Sidda gave Victus a smile he didn't see. With all his griping he was the perfect person to help her do this. He was an intelligent leader and was willing to go out on a limb. "Urdnot Wrex is on the surface waiting to take you back to Tuchanka."

"Why?" the female asked with a short cough.

Sidda offered her a smile. "Because we're gonna cure the genophage."

The base rocked as if something bombed it and Sidda's Omni-tool buzzed to life, on the other end was Wrex. The uninvited guest was Cerberus…of course. They dropped a bomb down the elevator shaft just to trap them but it was only effective in making everyone take the long route to the surface. They needed to protect the female but it didn't make much sense for Cerberus to be after the Krogan but no one understood their motives. They were guaranteed to do whatever was in their own best interests and stopping the genophage cure would keep the galaxy at the status quo of chaos.

"Why is it everywhere I go, these assholes follow?" she muttered to Victus and Garrus as she roared through the pain of climbing a ladder.

"Be careful who you jump in bed with." Victus commented as he followed her up the ladder.

She glared down at him as he turned to offer Garrus a hand. "Look who's talking."

"You started it." He said and meant that in every sense of the phrase. Jumping in bed with Cerberus and she started their fling in her quarters.

Garrus passed between them. "Not now, you two." He wasn't sure if they were sniping, flirting, or bickering but whatever it was it didn't matter at the moment.

They had to move quickly and Sidda felt her body protest, Cerrus' adjustment to her armor was a godsend but climbing the ladder was just about as much as she could stand. "Oh this sucks." She grimaced as they managed to reach the containment pod at the checkpoint just as Cerberus arrived as well.

"Do not let them take cover in the labs!" Victus ordered and sidestepped to his right get into the labs and make sure Cerberus didn't do exactly that. When Cerberus attempted to enter the lab they were met by Victus. He opened fire with the Phaeston, a single shot first that landed right between the eyes of a soldier then a longer burst into the rest. They scattered and rightly so or the Primarch was going to shred them.

Victus heard the bark of Garrus' sniper rifle and tracked the blue light of Sidda's biotics. His battlefield awareness was honed over the years and still as sharp as it was when he was a lieutenant. He grabbed a Cerberus soldier talking cover where he thought he was safe, pulled him over the wall onto the ground and rammed an Omni-blade into his face in a gruesome death. The fight was brief but brutal, Cerberus wasn't pulling punches, but the initial skirmish was won by Sidda and company.

"These guys aren't fucking around." Garrus muttered in a tight tone as his chest protested the concussive shot he took.

"Cerberus is persistent to the end." She replied as they rushed to the next checkpoint. Trying to beat Cerberus to the next punch. They could hear fighting and ships flying overhead, Cerberus was trying to drop troops but being harassed by the Salarians and one Alliance Kodiak piloted by Wrex…Sidda would love to see how Cortez was handling that.

* * *

Victus didn't let his guard down even though they'd made it back to the top. The transfer station showed the deteriorating state of the pod. They needed to do this quickly, Cerberus wasn't going to just sit around and let them have it.

"Wrex," he said sharply. "get down here, now." It was his General voice and Wrex didn't argue. He didn't argue until Cerberus showed up again, Wrex waved off his approach rather abruptly and the rest soon saw why. When the Atlas landed Victus decided that any mission with Sidda was terrible. The first and last mission he accompanied her on destroyed a research station gave him a concussion and a new scar.

Victus did hear it but he knew Sidda was cussing to beat the band. They'd scattered into cover and he dropped down behind the console nearest to Mordin.

"Stay put, Mordin." Sidda ordered as they took cover from the hulking machine. "Adrien?"

Victus tapped a few things on his Omni-tool and his Phaeston switched to armor piercing rounds. He had a plan. He couldn't have asked for a better crew to handle it and knew the weapon he carried was modded correctly. Ruvvak's modifications usually trended toward maximum damage where Cerrus were precision. "I got it." He announced and Sidda snorted, curious to see how the badass Palaven Primarch handled this with such a casual tone. "Vakarian, I need that sniper rifle of yours. Sid, biotics when I say so."

"More incoming troops, Adrien, whatever you're gonna do make it quick." She said and covered him from the troops that were landing where they had arrived from.

While Sidda covered Victus made do with Garrus. The marksman fired the sniper rifle with his own brand of armor piercing rounds but it barely made a dent. After Garrus' shot they coordinated the hulking machines take down. Atlas' were worse than the YIMR Mechs and it just kept walking to get into a position to kill Mordin and the Krogan female.

Victus had a plan, they could reduce this thing to scrap if they acted quickly and fortunately the stars aligned. Garrus took down the shields with a strong overload from his omni-tool and a coordinated biotic explosion caused significant damage. Victus didn't ask her for the powerful warp, at least he didn't think he did, but she timed it perfectly. She really was battlemaster. Sidda's biotic display shattered the glass on the Atlas' cockpit and Victus threw the thermal grenade. That was the last thing the Atlas pilot wanted and once it went off it killed him instantly. The Mech stagger stepped and the explosion from the grenade caused a secondary explosion that caused it to blow up.

* * *

The mission was a success. Somehow, someway they managed to pull it off leaving Cerberus empty handed, Sidda with a one in the win column, Wrex one step closer to righting the galaxies biggest wrong, Victus with a question mark, and the Salarian Dalatrass pissed. They needed to head back to the Citadel and resupply and regroup before heading back to Tauchanka. The _Normandy _had more Turians on it then she'd expected, and the frigate wasn't built for as many people as were on it.

Filing her report in silence let her dwell on the mistake she'd made, and she nervously fiddled with the ring Nov gave her. Maybe Wrex was right and Nov would look past the indiscretion but until then she stayed as far from Victus as she could. Seeing him in action on Sur'kesh dredged up all the old feelings she had for the General and it bothered her profusely, but it wasn't him that she wished for right now…she missed her husband.

* * *

_**PS: Oh yeah, I did a thing. (braces for the Nov and Victus fans alike) Soundtrack for this little impending disaster Santa Monica by Theory of a Deadman and Outside by Stained**_


	4. Chapter 4: Rules of the Citadel

_**Note: Hello, hope everyone is well. Thank you for the favorites and follows. Feedback is appreciated as always. **_

_**This chapter was written with the song All The Things That I've Done by the Killers in mind. (also the song Nov kicks on in the end)**_

_**Please enjoy Chapter Four: Rules of the Citadel**_

**Mass Effect**  
"Foreign Relations"

**Chapter Four: Rules of the Citadel**

Seeing the _Havincaw_ back to the Citadel was infinitely easier than the _Reliant_ was. The _Havincaw _took a hit to the power grid which was easier to fix than fashioning an entirely new one and hoping the ship didn't blow up. All Nov wanted to do was get back to the Citadel and be with Sidda. When he did get back Sidda wasn't there.

"She is barely healed!" he barked to Sparatus angrily.

Sparatus knew that Nov wasn't going to take this well and was seemingly unbothered by it. The galactic situation was horrible, and he made a choice to send her. One that she agreed to. "I needed her. She's proven that she can rally anyone to her cause, and she gets shit done. We need Fedorian to sway get this summit moving."

Nov was angry and his expression reflected that. He loved Sidda but the timing on everything lately was terrible. She was always in danger when he wasn't there to protect her. It was frustrating him. "You placed my wife's life in danger. You should have waited for me."

Sparatus was clearly becoming irritated with the younger male but understood his point. "Pull yourself together, Spectre." he growled showing seasoned restraint. "I'm not proud of sending an injured soldier back into combat but we don't have the luxury of waiting. The choice was made. End of discussion. Do you understand me, Spectre Nov?"

Nov hadn't realized that once the dressing down began, he straightened his posture and stood at ease, the military conditioning took over. "Yes, Sir." He replied and Sparatus nodded. It had been a long time since he was in the military but once he learned it, it never went away.

Now that they were clear on how command worked Sparatus evaluated Nov. He looked mentally and physically exhausted. "Now, I suggest you get some rest, you've more than earned it and you look like hell."

He said it was a suggestion, but his tone said it was an order. Sparatus was his superior, as a Spectre he answered to him and the rest of the Council.

* * *

The Citadel was becoming increasingly more crowded. People from everywhere were fleeing their systems and seeking refuge here. Batarians were the first to arrive, then Turians, then Humans. There wasn't much space aside from the makeshift quarters on the docks. Nov's apartment was full to the brim, he offered it to his cousin and then to anyone else that needed it. Mostly the _Reliant_ crew that hadn't been absorbed into the remaining 3rd Division ships. He had ten people crashing at his apartment, crowded, yes, but he wasn't about to turn them away.

Favia had been employed by Sparatus' office and had cooked up a massive batch of turnip mash and meat gravy. Easy to make in large quantities and she was able to feed everyone with it. "Hey," she greeted when he walked in and over or past the new occupants to his apartment. "I made dinner. You hungry?" He shook his head and looked tired. "Cal, you need to eat something."

"Fav, I'm fine." He snapped and she glared at him.

"No, you're grouchy, cousin, which means you're tired and hungry now sit down at eat." She ordered and he returned her glare but did as she told him. She sounded like his Aunt Lyta and he check his messages again, certain people he hadn't heard from worried him, he also didn't have anything additional from Sidda. Given the warzone that she was in meant he probably wouldn't hear anything until the buoys got unclogged. "Did you hear anything from your mother?"

She shook her head and dished him up a bowl of dinner. "Dad's still trying."

Nov didn't press and devoured the food she put in front of him. They were all in the same boat, they all had missing loved ones, they had all watched loved ones die. He didn't realize just how hungry he was until the bowl was empty. He ignored the satisfied look on her face then left to go shower and sleep. Food and shower managed to reiterate how tired he was, and he collapsed on the bed. His niece climbed up on to the bed and then climbed on him. "Nisia, if you're gonna be here you need to be quiet and still." He mumbled and the little girl settled down and hugged him tight.

* * *

Nov slept nearly ten hours, most Turians didn't sleep that long. When he woke up Nisia was gone and he heard nothing but silence in the next room. He looked to his right and sighed heavily, he missed Sidda. It had been far too long since they were together. The medical bay didn't count. He brought up the Omni-tool and checked messages. None from Sidda but two from Sparatus, one from his Uncle, one from Oraka, and three from Chellick. "Come on, Baby, where are you?" he muttered to himself. A pointless comment as she couldn't hear him and would surely message him if she could.

It was early when he got out of the house to meet with Sparatus. After a shower, clean clothes, rest, and food Nov felt better; not great since he still saw his mothers car explode with his cousin on board, his planet on fire, and a close friend dying in his arm every time he closed his eyes. The meeting had Oraka and Darius there discussing next moves.

"The _Reliant_ has been deemed unsalvageable. She'll be stripped for parts and most of her crew will go to the _Havincaw_ once that ship is repaired." Darius said and looked at Oraka. Oraka was technically the commander of the remaining 3rd Division but he didn't seem to mind that Darius was doing most of the talking. Darius was a legend and probably the highest-ranking fleet commander left next to Coronati.

"Any word from, Sidda?" Nov asked as he leaned against the wall casually. His question was aimed at Sparatus.

"No." he answered and Oraka knew something about that.

"Several comm buoys between the Citadel, Palaven, and Earth have been destroyed. I deployed the _Defiant_ and the _Currazza _to replace them." Oraka explained.

Nov wanted to be deployed on one of the ships out to Palaven but he was on thin enough ice with Sparatus as it was. Any more ships added to Palaven would just be an addition to the disaster and they couldn't afford to waste the resources.

"Cal, I need you to work with C-Sec. The situation on the Citadel is fine for now but the criminal element will make itself known." The Councilor said as Nov seemed to be in a much better mood this time.

"Standard siege op…got it." He replied. Turians trained for everything including what happens during a siege. This wasn't a siege but it had a lot of desperate people trapped with people who would take advantage of that.

* * *

The Spectre office was the same layout no matter where they were. There were 70 active Spectres and only half were on the Citadel at the current moment, the rest were scattered or unaccounted for. There was no one in the office with him except his little helper for the day. Nisia was his partner for a little while.

"Come here, Kiddo, teach you to be a Spectre in no time." He said and sat the little girl in his lap. "VI: run facial recognition, criminal database – all, over the past 72 hours entering and exiting the Citadel."

"What are you doing?" The three-year-old girl asked as she watch but didn't understand what he was telling the VI to do.

"Looking for all the bad people on the Citadel." He answered. With a station the size of the Citadel it was going to be tough, but it was better than trying to it in a city on a planet. They were relegated to a small place with only certain ways on or off.

"Why?"

"Because it's very dangerous for them to be on the station with everything that's going on."

Before long the computer was tallying countless individuals and it didn't even scratch the surface. Nov stared at the never-ending list a sighed. "Yeah…this'll take a while."

Nisia wasn't fussy, she'd always been a quiet kid and watched him work while sitting on his lap. Mostly she was watching the quick scanning of images across the screen. She didn't understand what she was seeing but she was curious for a three-year-old.

The list compiled so far had over 300 names and Nov shook his head. "Fucking impossible task." He muttered. "Don't tell your mom I said that. VI: Filter violent crimes, Organized crime, Extortion, and Theft."

"Spectres recruiting a little young?" a familiar voice asked from behind him.

Nov turned to see Chellick. "Nah…Fav needed me to watch her for a few hours." He answered and stood holding his niece on his hip. "Nisia, this is my friend Decian."

Chellick gave a half smile to the little girl. "Hi."

Nisia hid her face from him like most little kids around strangers would. Nov chuckled lightly and put her down. "Go play." He told her and held his hand out to his friend. "Congratulations, Captain Chellick."

Chellick, passed over for Executor last year and a Lieutenant at the time, was now a Captain…one rung down from Executor. "Thank you." He responded. Like most promotions it was a blessing and a curse. He felt both on a daily basis now. "Sifting through the Citadel yearbook?"

Nov chuckled. "Filtering down through who is still on the station and who needs to be thrown off."

"And which ones that have been smuggled on that we don't know about."

Nov gave him a glare. "Thank you for explaining the difficulty of my job."

Chellick laughed. "Are you kidding, this is my job."

"You were a grunt, then a Detective, then a Lieutenant, and now a Captain…you only have to do the shit you want to do." He chuckled and Chellick laughed with him.

"If only that were true." He said truthfully. To be honest as a Captain he had less freedom then he thought he would. "How many are you up to?"

"Too many. 600 or so."

"Lucky you have a VI to help you." He said. "And your junior Spectre recruit." There was silence as Chellick could tell he was putting on a brave face. "You hear from Sid?"

Nov was trying to not think about Sidda and Rylo but that didn't stop him from checking any messages he could. "Not yet. Oraka said comm buoys were destroyed and he'd sent ships to replace them."

"What about Grissom Academy?" Nov looked at him sharply. "David."

Nov was a legal guardian and he did manage to receive a message from the academy saying that everyone was as safe as they could be. "I got the mass message. David is a genius so he's still there working on Tech for the Alliance."

It was past time for Chellick to get to work. "Alright, well, duty calls. I'll leave you to your mountain of Citadel's finest."

"You coming for drinks later?" he called after him.

"I'll be there. I think Alenko is joining us too." Chellick called back. "Let me know when you have that list down to a more manageable size and I'll give you guys to help clear it." Sidda had Bailey he had Chellick.

* * *

Purgatory seemed to not exist by the Presidium records, it was a place that seemed to be better suited for the Wards but instead it was located with the Citadel elite. It was the closest place for Nov to get a drink and he promised the demoralized crew of the _Reliant_ he'd buy them a round. Those who wanted a drink were there, twenty of them and he also spied Chellick and Kaidan at the bar.

He looked around the bar and found that he missed the life of a nightclub. It was more fun with Sidda but he'd make do now.

"Spectre Nov." the crew greeted and stood to show their respects.

"It's just Cal, guys."

He slapped the shoulders of Chellick and Kaidan found a seat between them, flagging down the cute Asari bartender. She was a pretty Asari maiden with deep purple skin and white highlights. "Their drinks are on me." He said putting his credit chit down and tapping it with a finger.

She took it and looked behind him to the Turian group as she opened the tab. "That's generous. Commanding officer?" she asked with a flirty tone and a smile.

Nov shook his head. "Nope." He didn't say anything about being a Spectre.

The bartender shrugged and gave him a flirty smile. "Still handsome."

Chellick and Kaidan rolled their eyes. Nov was a chick magnet. "I don't think he can go anywhere without the prettiest thing in the bar hitting on him." Chellick muttered.

"Well, when you're irresistible, you're just irresistible." He smirked and turned his attention to the pretty Asari as Chellick and Kaidan gave loud derisive scoffs to the blatant comment. "What's your name?"

"Zula."

"Zula. I'm Cal, this is Decian, and that's Kaidan." He introduced. "These fine people behind me are of the now defunct but valiant _PFS Reliant_. They get anything they want. These two urchins are on their own."

She giggled to his charisma. "What'll you have, Cal?"

"Do you have any Rellus?"

"A '76."

Nov made a face. It was better than nothing but the '53 was best. "Better than nothing. One for these two as well. Care to give it a try, Kaidan?"

Some Humans could handle a little dextro but Kaidan wasn't wanting to try it. As a medic he knew what would happen if he had a bad reaction. "No thank you…I don't need to be sick." He replied and looked to the Asari. "Just a beer will be fine."

"Nov." a female voice greeted making him turn. It was Kovir from the _Reliant_. She looked different cleaned up from the smokey, burning _Reliant_. Still she was 5'7", grey skin, Palaven blue paint, and blue eyes.

"Lieutenant Kovir," Nov greeted. "welcome. You look different."

"Must be the absence of a burning ship." She replied and he chuckled. Some may think it callous but there was no other way to deal with the situation and come out sane. "And it's Enya."

"Cal." He said with a smile and introduced her to the two he was with. "This is Decian Chellick and Kiadan Alenko. Guys, this is the best Comm officer I've ever met…not a half bad tech too." Chellick looked her up and down and found himself thoroughly attracted to her.

"That's a hell of a compliment coming from him." Kaidan commented. "What are you having, Lieutenant?"

"Enya please, and whatever you are." She said but altered her comment to specify the Turians. "Actually, whatever they are having."

Nov grinned and nodded. "Zula," he called to the bartender. "another Rellus here for the good Lieutenant."

"So, are you Spectres as well?" she asked to Kaidan and Chellick.

"He is, I'm not." Chellick commented and gestured to Kaidan. "Citadel Security at your service, Miss."

"And he's a captain too." Kaidan offered.

For the next hour everyone managed to relax even with all that was going on. Chellick and Kaidan hit it off better than expected and were trading stories. One of the funny stories was Sidda back from the dead and scaring the hell out of Chellick in his office.

Zula set another glass of what he was drinking down in front of him and he gave her a puzzled expression. "I didn't order another." Nov commented as he was positive that he hadn't had enough to drink to impair him memory.

"It's from her." She pointed across the lower bar to a VIP section of the Club.

Nov looked to see who his admirer was and promptly rolled his eyes when he recognized the Asari pirate Queen. "Keep it." He told her and got up to go and greet her in person. As a Spectre, he was allowed to be armed so when the guards attempted to pat him down, he did the same thing he did on Omega. "Touch me and I'll break your arm." He warned firmly.

Aria giggled. Normally, a female's giggle was music to his ears but not hers. Everything about her he disliked. "Callus Nov. Same as always."

The guard let him pass without a fuss and Nov signed heavily. "Aria T'Loak. I really hoping to never see you again."

"And yet here you are. Did you like my drink?"

"I assumed it came with a debt…no thanks." He replied bitterly. "What the hell are you doing on the Citadel?" His question was legitimate, when he ran his facial recognition, she didn't show up and that was wrong on several levels.

"Cerberus pushed me off of Omega." She answered simply but sounded more than a little irritated with it.

"Pirate Queen finally got unseated…can't say I'm sorry about that." He commented and wondered how she got onto the Citadel in the first place. Mob Boss or Gangster she should have thrown a zillion red flags and been turned away. Someone looked the other way or smuggled her onboard. "How'd the Illusive Man pull it off? Appeal to the masses that hate you?"

She scoffed. "Deceit, distraction, and a big fucking army."

Aria was going to try to use him just like she didn't last time and he wasn't having it this time. This was his world, not hers. "I don't know how you got onboard but now that you are here know that I'm gonna be keeping an eye on you. No antics or I'll come down on you."

Aria found Nov appealing but he clearly didn't like her which was something that Aria liked even more. "Oh, please, that's not why I bought you a drink. I hear your wife is off saving the galaxy. I can't get Omega back if the Reapers have exterminated everyone. Rather not rule the ashes." Nov was silent as he listened to her. "The Eclipse, Blood Pack, and Blue Suns…I kept them all in line but now they are running amok. Unite them under my banner and your wife is free to use them as she sees fit."

Nov hawked a laugh. "Unite three armies under you so you can rule the Terminus…fuck you, Aria."

"Don't be so short sighted, Callus." She admonished in her condescendingly sweet tone. "Speak with Narl for the Blood Pack, Jona Sedaris, the leader of the Eclipse, is in C-Sec custody, and the Blue Suns leader is Darner Vosque. Bring them all under my command and your wife is free to use them as she sees fit."

"What the hell do you get out of it?" he asked not buying that she was doing this to just help kill Reapers. "I'm not going to put Sid in debt to you and I won't live under your thumb."

"A favor you or she can return later." She said and could see how angry he was getting. "Come now, Callus, you're smart…you see the value in this. That's what I like about you."

Nov weighed the information, the additional help from mercenaries would be a great benefit however, the cost if they couldn't keep them in hand would compound the problem. He sighed but didn't give her the satisfaction of a straight answer. "I'll think on it." He said and began to backway from her. "And keep your drinks." He said and left her presence.

Chellick and Kaidan eyed him the entire time he was talking to the Asari who bought him a drink. Nov was normally happy to accept an Asari buying him a drink but right now he didn't look so happy about it. As he conversed with her it wasn't clear it wasn't a friendly meeting.

"How'd that go?" Chellick asked as he returned to them.

"I feel like a need a shower." Nov replied and felt the need to shudder.

"An Asari you don't like?" Kaidan inquired.

Nov had to remember that Kaidan wasn't with Sidda on Omega, so he didn't' have the esteemed pleasure of meeting Aria T'Loak. "That one is a piece of work. She wants me to put the Blue Suns, Blood Pack, and Eclipse all under her command so we can use them against the Reapers. It's a good idea but I don't trust her." He said and gestured to a table that cleared up. "The Blood Pack contact is Narl."

"Sounds Batarian." Kaidan commented as they sat down.

"Probably." He said and went on. "Someone named Jona Sederis leads the Eclipse."

"Sederis…that sounds familiar." Chellick said taking a swig from his drink.

"Should. Sounds Asari and Aria said she's in C-Sec custody, so you get to look into that for me, _Captain_ Chellick." He chuckled.

"Lucky me." He replied with a chuckle. "And the Blue Suns winner is?"

"Someone named Darner Vosque. What I wouldn't give for Massani or Miss Impressive right now." He said and looked across the bar to Zula and the young Lieutenant from the _Reliant_. "I'll handle the Blue Suns."

"Great, stick me with the Batarian." Kaidan joked.

"Could be worse." Nov commented and spared a glance to Aria, he could just shoot her and not have too much trouble. The Council might camp up his ass but it might just be worth it. "Could be dealing with the unseated Pirate Queen of Omega."

"You have an admirer." Chellick commented changing the subject and subtly gesturing to the female comm officer who was very curious about the group of males.

Kovir was attractive, resourceful, and smart. She was young too and looked strong…all the things Turian males looked for in a mate. "All yours." Nov said. There was no one else he wanted by his mate and he would settle for nothing else.

"She's not looking at me." Chellick chuckled but found the young officer attractive, incredibly attractive.

"Give it a try anyway." Nov replied with a wry smile. "Kaidan, why don't you go and turn on the charm for that bartender…she's been looking at you."

Kaidan made a face, he knew he was fairly attractive by human standards but shy and Zula wasn't flirting with anyone but Nov. Asari magnet he was. "And flirting with you."

Nov laughed, Kaidan hadn't learned about being around Nov. He was that one guy in the group that got all the action. "They all flirt with me but I'm taken so go have some fun." He said and then cocked his head. "Wait, have you ever had an Asari?"

Kaidan blushed and it was visible in the low light. "No." he answered in the boyish, shy tone that made both Nov and Chellick chuckle.

Not surprising from someone like him. Quiet and reserved. Not the party animal that Nov. He really was a younger, nicer Cerrus. "I recommend it." He smirked. Asari were fun and he recommended everyone should try it. "Go on." He recommended his wingmen get laid and wished he had Sidda with him right now. She was fun to drink with and to play with afterward.

Chellick did make a successful attempt at talking to Kovir and Kaidan…at least tried with Zula. After his encounter with Aria, Nov stopped drinking. The area was no longer safe, so he made sure the _Reliant _crew got what they deserved and his friends were safe. He checked his omni-tool praying to get a message but there was still nothing.

* * *

The refugee dock was somewhere Nov didn't like. It was a painful place to be full of reminders of the current reality. All different species were crammed in with nowhere else to go. The Memorial Wall he avoided like the plague, he didn't need a further reminder of who he'd lost but it was something that could help him…just not right now, he wasn't ready for that.

This was a mercenary den, he found elements of each major one including the Blue Suns. He didn't know who Darner Vosque was but a quick search from the database drummed up a description and a semi-clear image of him. Human male around Sidda's age. Nov wasn't in armor but he wore casual Marine duty uniform. Technically, he wasn't in the military anymore but it was best not to parade around like a Spectre. Sidda and Saren were the most famous Spectre's in the galaxy followed by Nihlus and maybe now Kaidan. He wasn't looking for fame, he just wanted to do his job well.

He looked over the disparate people and sighed. Too many humans fit the description and he didn't want to make an assumption.

"Wow," a deep voice came from his right. A tall, human male, with no hair leaned casually against the stacked crates. "Aria wasn't kidding. A Council Spectre and husband of the great Commander Shepard on a leash." Nov's manner stayed aggressive especially after the mention of Sidda. "She promised Shepard but the Turian prodigy will work."

Nov was a relatively new Spectre but his reputation was clear. "Vosque?" he questioned, deciding right away that he didn't like him. He radiated arrogance but it was too soon to see how dangerous he was, if at all.

The man grunted a reply and stood up straight. It was hard to intimidate someone who was 6'7" and looked like an evolved raptor so Vosque's strutting attempt was met by a thoroughly unimpressed Nov. "Tell Aria that I'll commit my men after you take care of the General who's being a pain in my ass."

Nov's hackles went up at the mention of taking care of a General. "What General?"

"Turian fossil out of retirement to make my life hell. Take care of the thorn in my side and the Blue Suns will fall in under Aria…so long I get her blue ass in bed with me." Vosque smirked.

Nov managed to keep himself in check and not kill him on the spot. He needed information not a dead body. What was Aria up to and who was the General? "Who?"

"Oraka."

Nov managed to not snap his neck right there but he thought really hard about it. The Oraka he was referring to was Oraka the elder, though he thought he had been retired. Whatever Aria was up to he wanted to squash it on principle now. "I'll look into it." By the time Nov left Vosque he was seeing red, he wanted to snap his neck and string Aria from the ceiling.

He wanted to kill Aria but he followed up on things first, he needed to know more before he succumbed to his rage. "Kaidan, where are you?" he practically demanded into the Omni-tool.

"_At the office."_

Spectre office, perfect. "You meet with Narl yet?"

"_Just about to."_

It was a great help that he had people who were competent around him. Once of them was Chellick handling the Eclipse angle and Kaidan to take the thankless job of the Blood Pack. "Before you do I need you to run a location ASAP. Septimus Oraka. Turian general. O-r-a-k-a."

Kaidan rolled the chair across the deck to the console he needed and punched it in quickly. _"I have a Caelius Oraka. Captain of the Pontius."_

"Not him. That's his son. I think the Blue Suns are gunning for him."

Kaidan was now looking at passes. The scans made automatically by C-Sec, the security program tracked Ident Chips. _"Got it. Last known location per Ident Chip: Presidium Commons, section 52."_

"Perfect. Thank you." He said and hustled onto the elevator for the commons.

Something in Nov's voice made Kaidan suspicious. _"Cal, do you need back-up?"_

He didn't know what he had at the moment, so he waited. "No…not yet anyway. Nov, out."

* * *

Chellick did manage to go home with young Lieutenant Kovir. It had been a while since he'd woken up with a female in his bed. At least one that wasn't related to a cover or duty. Enya was sweet, the kind you'd take to meet the parents. Chellick wasn't opposed to getting married but he was a cop and had been for a long time. Not only was he a cop but he worked the worst places on the Citadel and had worked in every Ward. It was now a matter of principle; he didn't want to put a family in danger. Even when he was in the military it just wasn't safe. Chellick didn't serve the mandatory fifteen years, he only made it to seven. He was a cop as a civilian and he was a cop in the military. After seven years as Military Police he was stationed on Magna and was jumped by a group of soldiers in the middle of the night. The attack was brutal and they shattered his right spur. A simple mistake he made ended his military service in a medical discharge and still served as the basis for him not getting married. But things were changing, even in the middle of a War, he really liked Enya.

"Good morning, Captain." The desk Sergeant greeted as he walked into the C-Sec office.

"Sergeant." He greeted with a brief nod as he passed. He then stopped and backed up remembering the name from the night before. "Simcoe, can you pull a name for me? Jona Sederis."

The name sounded Asari and he put the computer to work. The file came up quickly and had a special tag on it. "Murder, Organized Crime, drug running, more murder…" Simcoe said. "File's tagged to Commander Bailey."

"Forward it to my office. Thank you."

Sederis' file was like reading the Citadel's Uniformed Justice Code. She had everything from petty crimes to murder and abduction. Wanted on Thessia, Illium, and Taetrus…and she led the Citadel's pack of Eclipse. She was caught by a lucky Port Authority officer almost a week ago. Ten minutes after the initial search on her name the comm in his office rang to life. It was Bailey.

Chellick almost expected the call. Normally, when an officer had a file flagged it was set to notify that officer when someone made an inquiry. "Armando." He greeted flatly.

"_Decian, what's your interest on Sederis?"_ he asked bluntly. Bailey didn't sugarcoat anything, and he got right to the point.

"Someone's pushing to release her."

"_Christ, you too?"_ he said and Chellick didn't both to hide the irritation. _"Who?"_

"Spectre request. Yours?" he answered and left Nov's name out of it.

"_Council."_ Chellick made a face. Aria had her fingers in a lot of pies apparently_. "Do not release her, Captain, I mean it. Tell what ever Spectre that's asking to shove it…I've done the same thing to the Council."_

Chellick snorted. "Trying to set a record for time between promotion and demotion?" Bailey grumbled a response and Chellick chuckled. "I'm not releasing anyone. Don't worry."

"_I'll keep you posted, Captain."_

* * *

Kaidan worried about the call from Nov, he could handle himself in any situation but the Blue Suns were dangerous, if they were going against a Turian General it could mean a fight for Nov. Kaidan didn't really like the idea of dealing with the Blood Pack but to keep busy he helped.

"What the fuck is this? We were expecting Shepard, who the fuck are you?" the Batarian said and Kaidan sighed.

"You get me. Narl?" he replied, coolly.

"Who are you?"

Kaidan's glare remained and he found himself wondering just how he got himself roped into this. Right place, right time…drinking with Nov. "Alenko. Sent by Aria by way of Nov."

"Ahh…Aria's other Turian obsession." Narl said with a laugh and Kaidan made a face to reflect the confusion to his comment. 'Other Turian obsession' made him curious but he tabled that until later.

"Are you Narl?" Kaidan repeated and the Batarian grumbled.

"Yes," he answered and hurried Kaidan toward him and into the room. "now we don't have much time."

Kaidan resisted the rush and shoved Narl off him. "What are you talking about?"

"You're late and you're not Shepard so we need to sell this." Narl said sharply. "Put your hands behind your back." Kaidan went on the defensive and resisted even more. "Just trust me. You're Kaidan Alenko, second human Spectre right?"

"This better be up and up or I'll be your worst nightmare." He threatened and Narl accepted that he was probably serious.

"Fine. I apologize in advance." He replied and go in front of him and punched him across the face.

The hit was hard enough to bloody his mouth and Kaidan glared at him. "Maybe I should have brought the back up." He muttered and his biotics flared to the attack but Kaidan kept control.

Narl held up his hands trying to calm the biotic. "Relax. I need to show you as a prisoner. Now work with me on this."

* * *

The Presidium Commons were beautiful and the gave the appearance that everything was normal even though the universe was crumbling around them. Nov liked the view from the Commons but right now he was looking for one thing in particular: a Turian who looked like Caelius.

"Bang, you're dead." A woman said as he exited the lift. He recognized the voice and sighed before turning around.

"Well if it isn't Miss Impressive." He commented and sure enough leaning against the wall as if she was waiting for him was Isla Devereaux. "Thought I saw your face flash across my screen earlier."

"You did." She said and he looked down at her both surprised and not surprised she clocked him looking into the Citadel's criminal element. "Think I don't have my own security measures in place for when someone runs facial recognition on me?"

Nov rolled his eyes; she was a criminal but got a free pass because she was on the straight and narrow now. He hated it when the bad guys were on the same tech level as he was. "What do you want, Isla?"

She gestured for him to walk with her. They moved down the walkway and to an area away from other people. "Darner Vosque."

"And how do you know that I'm-…" he trailed off and shook his head in disbelief. "how in the hell did you tag the line? It's encrypted."

She gave a half sly smile and folded her arms across her chest. "You're not the only techy in the house." She replied and read his expression. He was getting angry with her. "Relax. It'll purge itself after a half hour. I can help you with this."

His expression narrowed. Rather than telling her to take a hike he thought that having a Blue Suns insider would be helpful. "How?"

"The Blue Suns rely on weapons deals. Biggest source of income is private security, that's why Zaeed started it." She said and Nov motioned her to move it along.

"I know the mission statement, move on."

"Fine, smart ass. Since the leadership shake up with Shepard a few months back that left the moron Vosque in charge and he doesn't have the clout any of the other ones did. Now we have the Reapers, weapons dealers willing to work with Vosque dropped to zero so they ramped up on raiding C-Sec supply shipments." She explained. The Blue Suns had always raided C-Sec shipments but now it was full time. The Reapers had been in the galaxy for four days and had already made a giant mess. "Oraka stomped on them pretty hard two days ago and now the Suns are _desperate_ for weapons."

Nov had been under the impression that she and the Blue Suns were at odds so the next question didn't sound quite so dumb in his head. "How do you know this?"

"How do you think Archangel go his information on Omega?" she answered with a scoff sounding like he missed an obvious clue. "Vosque wants Oraka assassinated and Aria wants you to do it."

He sighed the irritation away; she still hadn't answered his question. "I'll ask it again: How do you know that?"

Her glare reminded him of the look that Sidda would give him when he was missing the point. "Still have ties to the Suns, Cal, I'm not kidding about this. Aria was bad news on Omega and she's even worse here. The Suns need a leader not a maniac. You help me take out Vosque and I'll guarantee you the most versatile merc band in the universe at your fingertips."

He thought about it, Aria didn't tell him everything and Vosque wasn't much better. Isla, as irritating as she was to him sometimes, had been extremely helpful. What really struck him was the fact that Aria wanted him to kill a general just to prove her point and get him out of the way. "You want to take over the Suns."

"Zaeed started it he deserves to lead it." She replied and Nov gave her a nod.

"Alright, I'll help." He said but felt the need to confront Aria. He wasn't about to used by her and he wanted to make a point. "Come with me."

* * *

When Nov entered Purgatory he was pissed and walked right through Aria's guard. If there was one person in the galaxy that she was leery of it was Nov and right now he was about to demonstrate it. She had two guards, both of them were rendered on the floor and useless in less than 30 seconds by the angry Spectre and then he was within striking distance. She was almost to her feet after his blitz attack and felt a hard punch across her face that knocked her back to the couch.

"You want me to kill a General?" he roared as he put the full weight of his body on her and his right hand around her throat. _"Filthy fucking whore!"_ he added only that came out in Turian.

The Turian guard tried to get up and Isla put her right foot on his back and pushed him back down. "I'd stay there if I were you." She said calmly but Nov's attack had been so brutal and so sudden he was dazed and confused anyway.

Aria wasn't surprised by much in life, not anymore, but she was surprised by this. "I gave you the chance to save his life." Aria strained out and started to glow blue.

"Try it and I'll break your neck." He threatened through a low menacing growl. He was strong enough and had a good enough grip that her biotics would probably get her killed. "If _anything_ happen to Septimus Oraka, I will kill you. You say Omega had one rule? Well the Citadel has one rule: Don't fuck with me, Aria." Not only did he have the skill to back up his threat, as a Spectre…he had the authority.

Aside from the music still playing the club had their attention on the commotion in the VIP corner. Isla did as intended and watched his back. When the club's bouncers approached, she dismissed them calmly. "Spectre business, gentlemen, go back to work." She said with a sweet and very calm tone. "Run along now, Boys." She encouraged sounding a little more forceful. Isla was armed but didn't advertise it.

It was getting harder to breath, Nov knew Asari anatomy well enough to know the quickest way to choke them. When he released her after making his point the weight of him disappeared too and she could breathe again. "Be very careful, Callus." She coughed trying to compose herself.

Anything less than complete obedience at this point was foolish on her part and Nov went the next step. "You want to go head to head with me…fine." He commented and tapped the secure line to C-Sec. "Decian, freeze any and all assets associated with Aria T'Loak and alias' then launch an investigation into how the hell she got on the station. Spectre authorization; Nov 117 Zeta."

She was beyond angry and glared at him in such a way part of him nearly cringed. "You will regret this." She promised and Nov prepared himself to receive whatever she was going to do. Someone needed to put Aria in her place…it just so happened to be him.

There was one thing he was certain of and had been for a long time. "Aria, I regret every second I've known you." He hissed back and left her in the embarrassing audience he made.

* * *

The murmurs in Purgatory were loud enough to be heard as Nov and Isla quickly left the Club. Some of it was typical chatter about what just happened and some girls swooning over the angry Spectre. Isla just shook her head as she followed him outside and to the car they came in.

"That was quite the spectacle. You sure that was wise?" she asked as Nov came down from being pissed as hell. He glared at her and she chuckled. "You know, you are a lot like Garrus…a dangerous hot-head." He glared at her again. "He would do this kind of thing a lot on Omega, nearly got him killed a few times."

She knew how to push his buttons and it really didn't take much. "Yeah, yeah, I get it, Devereaux." He clipped back. "Or is it Vakarian now?" the comment was meant to be a jab at their relationship but when she shrugged and paused. "Wait…is it?"

She chuckled to how fast he went from mad to curious. "That so hard to believe?"

His expression reflected bewilderment and surprise. "When?"

"Last month. You're not the only Turian/Human couple anymore." She said and changed the subject back to her initial question. "You didn't answer my question. Do you think that was wise?"

"Probably not." He replied. Aria, despite his low opinion of her, could back up everything she threatened. He knew he made the galaxies worst enemy by his display but…his point was well received. "Now I need to find Oraka the Younger."

"Well…just because I do actually like you…kind of and would rather not have to explain to Shepard why you died I'm gonna tag along and watch your back."

If there was ever a time he needed someone to watch his back it was now. On Omega he had the shanghaied help of Gavorn, at least Isla's motives were clear. "Appreciate it." His mind also went to people on Omega he knew and cared for on some level. Gavorn and Nyreen to be specific. He needed to get in contact with them. "Where is Garrus anyway?"

"Palaven." She said and he had to snort at that.

"Well, if he's here Sid'll find him. That's where Sparatus sent her." He said and Isla gave him a strange look. Garrus and Sidda did have an uncanny knack for finding each other no matter the situation. His comm beeped to life and it was Chellick.

"_What the hell was that about?"_ the Captain asked.

"Just making a point. Meet me _Pontius_' dock."

"_You do know that C-Sec has received seven calls about a so-called Spectre roughing up an Asari in Purgatory."_

"Yep, it's me and I'll explain later."

* * *

Caelius was on his way back to the _Pontius_ when Nov hurriedly approached him. He was the image of his father but shorter and had blue eyes. "Caelius," he called and the Captain stopped to see who it was. It was Nov. A spectre he barely knew calling him by a first name, he was so used to no one calling him Caelius, it was always 'sir' and 'Captain'. "where's your dad?"

The odd question was reflected on his face. "What?"

"Where is your father?" Nov repeated with a clear inflection on each word.

Caelius didn't care who it was that was asking, he loved his father and would protect him. "I don't know." He answered. Not a lie, he was somewhere on the station, but he was quick on the uptake…a Spectre was asking and the other Turian with him was a C-Sec officer. "Why? What happened?"

"We have a Blue Suns problem."

"Clarify." He ordered suspiciously.

"You dad has been squeezing the Blue Suns a bit hard lately, ordinarily I wouldn't care but it's pissed them off enough that they tried to get me to kill him." Nov explained.

Caelius went from mildly suspicious to hackles up in less than a second and squared up with Nov. "Why you?" he demanded in his Commanding officer tone.

He'd given him the wrong idea but then again he didn't know Caelius Oraka that well. "Because Aria T'Loak thinks she owns me. Not anymore, I gave her a lesson she won't soon forget but I do get to look over my shoulder for a little while or she'll stick a knife in my back."

Caelius was growing impatient and Isla could see it. "We need to get your father secure before that idiot Vosque does something stupid." she commented furthering the conversation. "Where is he?"

They had sufficiently convinced him there was a threat, if they were wrong that was fine…if they weren't…he would protect his father. "I'm not sure."

"Call him up."

* * *

Caelius was protective of his father and only with so far with more a detailed explanation. Now he was in the Turian Spectre office with Nov, a human Specter named Kaidan, a C-Sec Captain named Chellick, and a human female he wasn't sure about.

"I want to know what is going on right now." Caelius said in a calm tone that sounded a lot like a demand.

"It appears the Blue Suns are angry with me, son." His father said with a grin sounding proud of that.

"I told you to be careful." Caelius admonished. His father had been through a lot over the past five years or so and even became an alcoholic. He was sober now but the damage to his reputation had been done. Now he was out of retirement because the Reapers and he had something to prove.

His heart was in the right place. Over the past few years he wasn't the best example of a Turian officer and he'd been forced to retire after an incident with the Asari consort but he was an adult and a General and there was a war on. "I've been in the military longer than you've been alive, Son, stop mothering me."

Caelius was just as stubborn as he father but he took after his mother. He had an arrogant streak and a sarcastic tongue. "Someone has to." He snarked.

His father glared sharply at him and went from General to Dad is less than a second. "Enough!" he barked in the fatherly tone making his son fall silent. "Now what did you have in mind and who is this?" he asked gesturing to the only female in the room.

"Isla." She introduced simply.

"Isla is former Blue Suns but don't let that color your opinion of her…she's really much meaner than she looks." Nov said and Isla gave him an expression that clearly wasn't exclusive to Sidda when he was being a pain in the ass. "She works with us now." he said with a chuckle and went into the first question General Oraka had asked. "The plan is to keep you under guard and handle Vosque…permanently."

"What about Aria?" Kaidan asked.

"Oh, she's figuring out how to stab me in the back but I don't think she'll be stupid enough to try and push her luck just yet." Nov replied and Chellick gave him and odd expression. He really wanted to know just what he did to Aria.

"I'm still a little unclear as to why she wanted you to kill my father." Caelius said and Nov offered a mild shrug.

"I kinda screwed her on Omega." Nov said and then clarified when he received the odd looks from everyone. "Not literally. I used her power to make sure people didn't get mugged and she…took my liberal use of her name as a job application. Now she's taking advantage of the situation and save her skin while moving up in the world of crime bosses."

"Exactly how are you going to 'handle Vosque permanently'?" Chellick asked sounding a little afraid of the answer. "Actually, you know what, as a C-Sec officer in good standing I may not want to see or hear this until the Executor drops it on my desk. If you'll excuse me, General, Captain. Cal, if you get into trouble call me."

Caelius' Omni-tool chirped and he glared down at it. "So what are you planning on doing?" he asked sound more than a little testy and ignoring the Omni-tool.

"Caelius, you should go." The General said as his Omni-tool chirped again. "You're supposed to depart."

Caelius wanted to protest but he was already past the designated departure time. The _Pontius_ needed to be on their way but he'd ordered them to hold off when Nov appeared with distressing news. "Not until I know you are no longer in danger."

"I'll be fine. I have two Spectres watching over me." He said and Caelius sighed heavily. Caelius' protest was interrupted by another chirp. He growled and sharply tapped the device, there were four missed messages from Acadas and two from his first officer. He couldn't put it off much longer, the _Pontius _had a schedule to keep and he was an hour late. "Caelius, go."

The younger Turian sighed with an irritable sound. "Fine." He relented and looked from his father to Nov. "I'm trusting you. I hope you understand that." Nov understood and gave the officer a nod. He lost family on Rylo and tried not the think about it.

When he left Kaidan and Isla moved into the planning stage and away from Oraka and Nov. "You'll have to forgive him." Oraka said referring to his somewhat prickly son. "It's been just the two of us for a long time and he feels the need to protect me. After my behavior a few years ago it doesn't surprise me. He has an arrogant streak that he gets from his mother but his heart is in the right place."

The admiration Oraka had for his son was sincere and it uplifted Nov to a degree. "I don't know him that well but I do know that he saved a lot of people when Rylo was attacked. People call him a hero." The _Reliant_ survived the initial fight because of him.

Oraka was extremely proud of the person his son had become, his reputation had been tarnished by his actions but, to Caelius' credit, he never complained about it. "My son has never been big on the hero worship but he does care for his comrades." Caelius was hard to handle at times and many didn't get along with him. It was done right or it wasn't done at all and he had no issue telling you all about it. "I will do as you ask, and you can handle the Spectre business any way you wish. But I will not hide from Aria, my son may not believe it but I can handle myself."

Nov hadn't realized it but he was standing before the General as he had been conditioned. Hands behind his back and a respectful posture. "I believe you can, Sir." He said respectfully. Oraka had been in the military since the Relay 314 Incident and was an exceptionally good leader even if he'd been forced into retirement. "I won't let anyone get the drop on you. Least of all mercenaries and a Pirate queen I can't get rid of."

Oraka nodded and snorted a chuckle. "You're Tiber Nov's son, aren't you?" he asked but it was more like a comment. He already knew the answer and the Spectre fidgeted with body language that suggested he was uncomfortable with the topic. "I served with him a long time ago. I swear you look just like him." He said and stepped close enough to extend his hand to him. "Your father was a terrible soldier but a good friend."

He shook his head but wore a skeptical expression. "I have a hard time believing my father was friends with a General."

Oraka chuckled. "I wasn't a General at the time."

* * *

Handling Vosque and the Blue Suns was shockingly simple, he wasn't the same caliber as Vido and Kuril. He talked a big game but when it came down to it Isla was too much for him to stand up to. Then again Isla was the exact opposite of him, she talked the talk and walked the walk, this was the same person who was the Omega Blue Suns go to for interrogations, the same person who handed Archangel the means to nearly wipe them all out, turn on them, and still survive. Once the ranks of the Suns heard that she was moving against Vosque he was deposed easily but it wasn't for herself. Isla's goal of taking over the Blue Suns wasn't because she wanted to lead it. The only person that should lead the Suns was the man who started it, her friend and mentor Zaeed Massani.

Nov cursed when he saw Zaeed show up after having Vosque arrested and escorted away to be kicked off the Citadel. His program to find all the criminals on the station clearly missed a few…a few big ones.

Nov didn't escape the consequences of confronting Aria. He was summoned to Tevos' office so she could admonish him. Tevos was an Asari matron but she acted like a matriarch, right now she was angry…angry at him. Normally with an angry Asari he'd pour on the charm but here…he just didn't have it in him. As an insight into himself he'd grown quite a bit.

She was pacing in front of him. The thought of a Spectre boldly flexing his authority angered her. "You don't have the right, Nov. She is an Asari citizen and you will retract that investigation." She ordered and Nov quietly stood his ground.

"No." he replied flatly.

The gall of this male standing before with such a casual demeanor angered her further. "Excuse me?" she demanded in the tone that all politicians used when they were 'offended'. "Who do you think you are?"

"I'm a Spectre, Ma'am, and I'm doing my job." He answered firmly. "Councilor, if you are aiding a known criminal by smuggling her on board or protecting her-…"

"How dare you!" growled loudly and stepped closer to him.

Like Sidda, Nov didn't pussy-foot around. The Spectre's clearly weren't immune to corruption and neither was a council. Part of his job was the oversee both. "You selected me to protect Council Space, well, I'm gonna do that. If you don't like it, fire me and enjoy explaining to the Council why."

Nov was probably the best Spectre the Council had ever found but right now Tevos was regretting adding him to the ranks…no matter how correct he was. "You have a lot of nerve." She hissed in reply.

"Yeah, I know," he said sharply. His confidence was a weapon and despite the implication he didn't come off as arrogant. "but you are worse. Aria is dangerous…extremely dangerous and you are protecting her."

"You do not understand how-…"

"If she had something on you let me handle that and kick her off the station before she gets a lot of people killed." He said and Tevos sighed. She'd never liked Aria but she'd known her for a while. "You have the authority to eject her from the station."

Tevos thought about it but her response wasn't what he wanted to hear. She said she'd think on it and kicked him out of her office with the promise of brig time if he didn't comply. Rather than fight her on it he did as asked. It was going to bite him in the ass but that was a problem for another day.

* * *

The meeting with Tevos could have gone better but it didn't. Aria had some sort of relationship – personal or professional – with her that he could figure out. Tevos ordered him to drop the investigation and he refused. More to come on that. They'd arrived at an impasse and Sparatus sent him a mandatory appointment before he even got home.

Home was a little less crowded today, the members of the _Reliant_ crew that were crashing with him had been assigned to different ships. Most left on the _Pontius_ with Oraka but that didn't mean his apartment was clear. Chellick and Kaidan were present when he got there and having a lively conversation with Favia over what dinner was. All Nov wanted was Sidda, even a message from her would do him some good but there was still nothing. He sat down on the couch and put his feet up on the table as he tapped his Omni-tool. Music in the apartment turned on at a lower level and to one of Sidda's favorite songs.

"So how'd the staff meeting go?" Nov asked as Isla entered his apartment.

She giggled softly. "To be expected." She replied and Nov gestured to the chair across from him. "And as promised, the Blue Suns are at your disposal."

"The ones that don't fall in line are dropped on their ass." Zaeed added and Nov allowed a snort.

"Chellick and Kaidan managed to get the other two united under Aria."

"Blood Pack is almost completely Vorcha and Krogan now. They say Aria showed them how to get on the station undetected so who knows how many of them are scurrying about." Kaidan commented offering Zaeed and Isla a beer.

"Wonderful." Chellick groaned derisively. "Sederis…in all her lunacy…is going to die in jail. Bailey will kill her them himself before letting her out. I did go around her though to her underling. Shifty Salarian but he was smart enough to make the deal with Aria himself so…"

"Mission accomplished." Nov finished. "When Sid get's back I get to present her with a pissed off Pirate Queen with two Terminus merc bands as an army and you two kids with the Blue Suns."

"You know your tussle with Aria was recorded and has gone viral." Chellick informed with a smirk.

"Yey." Nov droned. "Sparatus already wants to see me in his officer first thing in the morning. In addition to getting chewed out over Tevos add Aria to make my life miserable. I thought marrying a Human meant that my days of angering Asari were over."

Kaidan raised his beer, whatever else had happened they proved one thing…they worked well together. "To teamwork," he began and looked at Nov. "and one badass Spectre." He'd always admired Sidda as a Spectre but Nov was something else entirely. He was scary good at everything at that included quelling a Crime Boss while getting her what she wanted and what they wanted.

"Here, here." Isla added with a smile that was gorgeous on her. "Callus Nov, King of the Citadel." She added obviously referring to his Citadel's one rule.


	5. Chapter 5: 1000 Ways to Die

**Mass Effect**  
"Foreign Relations"

**Chapter Five: 1000 Ways To Die**

Nov waited eagerly on the dock for the _Normandy_ to put in. He'd gotten a message from her when they exited the relay and made to the dock in record time. By now the Citadel was jammed full of refugees seeking shelter and damaged warships with nowhere else to go. He saw the frigate dock and still had to wait for any type of approach. When he saw Sidda it was from a distance and she was in the black duty uniform, he liked the way she looked in that one. From what he could see she looked much better than when he last saw her. He could still see bruising but she was moving better. Her hair, still shorter than it was when he first met her thanks to Cerberus, was pinned back and off her collar. She was the only thing he ever needed and no matter what Sparatus told him he was going with her the next time she left. It was his duty as a mate to protect her and he'd failed miserably at that so far. No more.

"Sid!" he shouted as he noticed Garrus and Liara behind her on the steps. Isla would be pleased now knowing Garrus was collected. Sidda heard her name and bounded to him with a smile. "Hey, Beautiful." He said quietly as he pulled her into a hug.

She was just as happy to see him safe a sound. She had news that was going to rock his world but she missed him dearly. "I am so sorry I left like that."

He held onto her still. "Don't worry about that. You're back now." He replied and then released her from the hug. "Back and safe." He added before kissing her.

The kiss blocked out the outside world for a moment and then it ended. It was so good to be back with him but her mistake hung on her shoulders. "I need to tell you about something but I need to see the Council first."

"No problem." He replied and looked over her shoulder to see three more unexpected Turians come off the _Normandy_. None of them were Fedorian. "Where's Fedorian?"

"Fedorian is dead. The Primarch is Adrien." She answered as Victus came to a stop with Cerrus and Ruvvak about five feet from them.

Nov reaction was pretty much on par with everyone else's. Victus being the new Primarch was a head scratcher, he was never the favorite and he didn't play by the rules. "Primarch Victus? At any other time that might seem strange."

Victus heard him and shook his head. "Nope. Still strange." He said as he still couldn't believe it himself. "Commander, we can't stay here long."

Sidda nodded to him. "I'll have Cortez make sure the supplies are loaded."

"Sergeant, assist." Victus ordered Ruvvak.

"Yes, Sir."

"Commander, the Council." Victus reminded and Sidda turned to Nov.

"Go. Find me in the Spectre office after." He said and she trotted away from him to catch up with Victus. Something was different but he wasn't sure what it was. "Hey, Garrus!" he called. "Guess what I found."

* * *

Nov kept serious tabs on Aria following his show of force in front of God and everyone. Chellick was too and had been tasked by Nov to keep an eye on General Oraka as well. Nov also was still dodging a barking Asari councilor angry at him for his investigation he refused to cancel. Sparatus wasn't going to help him with it and neither was Valern but Nov understood how dangerous it was for Aria and her goons to be on the Citadel.

"_Shepard, Human, Spectre status recognized."_ The VI announced as another Spectre entered the Turian office.

"Hey, Baby," he greeted as she approached the console he was seated at. "how'd it go?"

"Well, the situation on Palaven sucks. The situation on Earth sucks. The situation on the Citadel sucks. Pretty much the whole damn galaxy sucks at the moment." She replied sounding slightly frustrated with it all. She was back to being end of the world Sidda…he liked the relaxed quiet life Sidda and wanted to get her back to that as fast as possible. "Oh, and in addition to fighting the Reapers I'm at war with Cerberus as well."

Nov stood and gave her a sympathetic chuckle. "Well, you can add another Turian to your crew because I'm coming with you, Baby."

Sidda's heart fluttered like a schoolgirl in love. Having Nov around all the time was the image of picture perfect and she loved it but that was immediately colored by her mistake. "You might not want to do that." She said and he made a face.

"Why?"

"Because Victus is staying on." She explained and Nov felt it in the pit of his stomach. Whatever vibe he was picking up on was because of him. He just knew it. "The _Normandy's_ stealth drive makes it the perfect command ship and we're heading to Tuchanka."

"Makes sense." He replied not sure why he still had that sinking feeling. Maybe it was nothing. "What's going on, Sid?"

She didn't answer right away and the feeling grew. "I…I slept with Adrien." She said finally as she worked up the courage to say the words to him.

"_I fucking knew it!"_ Nov thought to himself as part of him couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What?" he asked as it was the only word that his brain could produce. Not like he wanted her to repeat the worst thing he had ever heard her say.

For Sidda the second time around was no better than the first. It was worse actually and all because of the look on his face. Stunned, hurt, shattered…right now it was all shock but in a minute she was certain it would be all anger. "I slept with Adrien." She repeated. "I'm so sorry. It was a mistake. I should never have done it and it'll never happen again. I didn't want to lie to you and make you think that something was still between he and I because there's not."

She continued to ramble on and he heard every word. Every single word but none of them carried the same impact as the ones she started with. Sometime during her rambling confession he had back into and perched on one of the railings. He held up and hand finally and she stopped talking just looked at her like she was completely and utterly exposed. It was an honest representation. She wasn't lying…not about anything. After reading her body language he looked at the floor and thought of the strangest thing, her convulsing on the floor after Toombs tried to kill her. He didn't know why he thought of that…he had happier memories with her. Namely their wedding day, or the day she came to play cards with him when his shoulder was shattered.

"Cal, say something." She said as his silence was nearly as bad as the look on his face.

He stood up straight and briefly met her eyes. "I'll see you on the _Normandy_." He said and walked past her quickly. She said his name and put a hand on his arm to stop him put he walked through them both leaving her alone in the office. Sidda resisted the urge to vomit.

* * *

Nov didn't have anywhere to go to vent. People were still in his apartment and he didn't want to cause a scene. He felt everything from sad to blind fury but still could make himself believe that Sidda would betray him like this. How could she have done this to him? Why would she do this? Was it because he was gone all the time or what it because she still loved him? The questions made him angrier as it went along and before he knew it he was outside his apartment. The only people there now was Favia and Nisia.

"Cal? Are you okay?" Favia asked knowing a barely functioning enraged Turian when she saw one.

Sidda was honest with him…about of everything so he believed her rambling that it was a mistake and that it would never happen again, but his rational mind was being overtaken by the primitive one. He grabbed the nearest thing and hurled it against the wall. The glass item shattered, and he roared in anger. What he threw was a glass framed image of Sidda…he didn't want to throw that. "Fuck." He cursed both at seeing what he just destroyed and hearing Nisia calling for her mom in the other room. He'd scared her awake with his outburst.

"Be right there, Nis." She called but went to Nov. "Cal, what happened?"

He thought about tell her but couldn't manage it. It was embarrassing and he couldn't stomach saying it. "Nothing. I'm sorry." He said and Favia glared at him as he pulled the wrecked image from its shattered case. "Tell, Nisia, I'm sorry."

Turian's were stubborn and preferred to lock up emotions rather than deal with them. Cal was the poster child for that. "What happened, Callus, and don't tell me nothing."

"Sid, did something…I don't want to talk about it." He decided and steeled his resolve. His training then took over. He needed to pack and ship out. "I need to pack."

"Cal, wait-…" she called after him trying to at least get some sense of what was going on but Nov wheeled on her.

"I said I need to pack, and I don't want to talk about it." He snarled. It had been a long time since she'd seen him this angry.

* * *

The pairing of Cortez and Ruvvak was like a match made in heaven. Ruvvak may not have been a procurement specialist like Cortez was but he tended to hurry stuff along. Sometimes an NCO was just thing that was needed to make dock workers kick it into gear. They were restocked, rearmed, and ready to go in just over two hours. Victus was impressed.

Nov was the last one on board and he avoided Sidda. He didn't know what to say to her or how to act and he definitely didn't trust himself around Victus right now. She'd been busy running her ship and trying to get her to move out quickly, Sidda ran and tight ship when she needed to. Victus too had an effect on underlings, his mere presence caused a stir and always had the imposing authority figure no matter what military he was a part of.

The _Normandy_ looked like a mess, halfway through its refit and the shit hit fan but Sidda's quarters were the same place they had always been. Nov dropped his bag on the deck and looked around the room. Ventilation and sanitation had taken care of the scent but this was the site of the betrayal. He left his bag and quietly turned and left. He didn't know what he should be doing right now, he never thought Sid would do something like this. In the vids males were screaming, throwing things, just plain angry but it wasn't that simple. Not for him anyway. He was angry but he loved Sidda more than anything else and it felt unnatural to him to be that angry at the woman he loved. All in all, it was a confusing feeling.

Where Thane used to be had been converted to a Turian Barracks. It wasn't fancy but there were uncomfortable cots and little privacy…it reminded him of boot camp. Ruvvak had procured Turian specific cots so they could sleep better but it was not perfect. There were six cots crammed as comfortably as possible and it appeared that Isla was one of the six cots. Garrus could do worse in selecting a mate. Nov liked Isla even though she pretty much just tolerated him.

"Hey, welcome back to boot camp barracks." Ruvvak greeted. Clearly, it reminded everyone of boot camp.

"It has more room than boot did." He commented making an attempt to crack a joke.

"All weapons and armor are stowed in the armor down below. Cortez and Vega are coordinating." The Sergeant said and Nov nodded. All his gear was loaded with the rest already when he boarded.

"Where were you two before this?" he asked as Cerrus was silent over by his bunk toward the back of the room.

"Manae. Primarch took us with him when Sid showed up. Still have no clue why. She's got enough soldiers on board." Ruvvak explained.

"The Commander has crew members not specialized soldiers." Cerrus commented.

Cerrus looked about like he always did but Nov could tell when something was bothering him. Cerrus wasn't as mysterious as people thought, he was just quiet so when he spoke he usually had a point. Like the Suicide Mission or tracking Saren, Sidda needed specialized soldiers and she was surrounding herself with them once again. "Tyr," he greeted. "how's the family. They still on Taetrus?"

Cerrus gave a reluctant nod. "Yeah." His mother was reactivated, and the search continued for his older brother. He hadn't heard much after that.

Nov didn't push him. "Where's Tali?"

Tali was the small bit of good news he'd received. "Safe with the flotilla." He answered.

A piece of happy news in the whole mess but the look on his face must have to Ruvvak that something was wrong. "You okay, Cal?"

Nov shook his head but no one was okay right now. He'd had a really back week so far but he wasn't going to get into it now with Ruvvak and Cerrus. "No." he answered. "None of us are."

As Nov left Ruvvak looked to Cerrus and they both knew what was going on. Sidda and Victus made on hell of a mess. Cerrus shook his head to the stupidity of it all and went back to sorting through the items he picked up on the Citadel. "Think he knows?" Ruvvak asked and Cerrus gave a casual, disapproving affirmation. "Yeah…of course he does…fantastic."

* * *

Nov had found Liara in Miranda's former quarters and she had transformed it into a mini Shadow Broker facility, complete with Glyph but without her best operative Feron. Garrus, of course was in the Main Battery and Chakwas was where she always was but with the Mad Scientist himself. Mordin was supposed to cure the genophage…if anyone could it was him and the female Krogan said nothing to Nov as he passed through. His tour was supposed to help familiarize himself and let him calm down and think. It was working right now so he kept going.

"Joker, thought you were in the brig." Nov greeted as he continued his walkthrough of the half-finished _Normandy._ The CIC hadn't changed much but it had a new look…the deployed in the middle of a refit motif.

"And I thought you were the Council's bitch." Joker replied with a chuckle and even Nov chuckled to that. "I was confined but not in the brig. I was on the _Normandy_ when the Reapers attacked Earth so EDI and I stole a warship…again…and saved the day."

"Hello, Spectre Nov." EDI greeted but the voice didn't come from the ship…it came from behind him and he jumped to the sudden appearance.

"What the hell is that?" he asked immediately on the defensive. The synthetic before him was unlike any that he had ever seen.

"That's EDI." Joker said and sounded coyly pleased with that. "In the Cerberus mech we collected on Mars."

Nov was still not please. "You mean the one that tried to kill Sid?"

"I have repurposed this body and it is quite safe for the crew now." She explained. "I mean the crew of the _Normandy_ no harm, Spectre Nov."

"And what does Sid think of this?"

"Commander Shepard does not trust this body. It did try to kill her, but she has allowed my endeavor to repurpose it and employ it's functions on the CIC and on surface mission." EDI said and Nov did a quick tactical assessment of it. As a mech it was a good design and meant to infiltrate the Alliance. He doubted he had any programs that would hack it or shut it down. Sidda trusted EDI but not the mech, in that he couldn't blame her.

"It's okay, Cal, she checks out." Joker reassured him and Nov reluctantly let his guard down. That Mech took down the Mars outpost, nearly killed Sidda, and had its ass kicked by Kaidan.

"Right." He said and straightened his posture. "Excuse me."

* * *

The War Room was crammed. Turians, Humans, a lone Krogan, a Salarian, and Asari. Sidda outlined the plan of going to Tuchanka and curing the genophage. It wasn't a secret now; they were going to do it come hell or high water. The Krogan had suffered enough. Nov observed quietly, Sidda was always faced with impossible odds and this was no different. Curing the genophage, getting the Krogan to fight for the Turians, to get the Turians to fight for the Humans…what a mess.

"Once we get to Tuchanka we'll help the Krogan in any way we can and support Dr. Solus in generating the cure." She explained and the room seemed content with that. "As you may have noticed, Primarch Victus will remain with us and use the _Normandy_ as his command post. Life Support compartment has been converted to a temporary barrack for the Turians. It's going to be a little cramped but don't worry…Wrex really isn't that bad."

"He's not bad looking either." Nov joked heralding back to their ongoing inside joke.

"Any time, Princess." The Krogan laughed.

Sidda chuckled as well. Nov hadn't said a word to her since the Citadel but at least he still had a sense of humor. She let him be to process the issue on his own. He was here and that was a step. "Alright, everyone settle in and rest. Dismissed."

"Cerrus, Ruvvak, Shepard remain please." Victus ordered.

The room cleared out and Sidda made eye contact with Nov who gave her a nod as she touched his arm on the way by. All parties involved seemed to be civil but that was only because Nov couldn't fly off the handle just yet.

When the room was clear Victus finally address why Cerrus and Ruvvak along. He knew exactly why he wanted them at first but he knew they could be helpful. After talking with Sparatus and Udina they needed to grab anything they could and put it where it was needed most. The Crucible needed to be built but needed deciphered first.

"We need to gather assets to assist the war effort across all line. Both support and combat." Victus said. "Which is why you two are here." He went on looking at Cerrus and Ruvvak. "With the Commander's permission, you'll take the second Kodiak and gather any assets you find. Doesn't matter what it is, trapped soldiers, ships, supplies, anyone cut off or in need of aid. I've offered our help to Admiral Hackett and any other nation that needs our help."

Sidda appeared content with it as she hadn't objected so far. Cerrus had observed the two drop ships. They were UT-47As, stealth tech with an Eezo core which meant they could make short jumps. "May I suggest Devereaux as well. She's a Kodiak pilot and good in combat." Cerrus said and Victus nearly smiled. His most difficult officer had come a long way.

He wasn't sure who Devereaux was but the name was human so Victus looked to Sidda who shrugged with the same look on her face. "Ask her yourself but it's fine by me." She said and Victus nodded satisfied with the meeting.

"Dismissed. Sidda, can I talk to you." He asked and Sidda chuckled as he led her into the conference room. She wondered why as the only reason she could think of was to get away from Wrex.

"What's up?"

"I have a favor to ask." He began and she waited patiently. "I sent a team on a mission to Tuchanka and I've lost contact with them." Asking her for a favor was dangerous now, things were awkward but they were both aware that it could never happen again and it was time to work.

While she didn't monitor him every minute, she was pretty sure that sending a team to Tuchanka would be hard to hide. "When did you send a squad to Tuchanka?"

"That's not important. The point is that their mission is sensitive and is a matter of galactic peace." He said and she spotted right off the bat that he was being evasive about something.

Her expression narrowed. She needed more than that to know what she was getting into, any operation on Tuchanka was going to be tough. "Galactic peace? Adrien, what's going on?" she asked and he turned away from her.

He wanted to tell her but in the end he kept to his military training. Sidda wasn't authorized so he kept it that way. "I can't tell you. You need to recover that squad as soon as possible so they can complete their mission." He continued and his evasion was getting annoying.

Sidda understood classified but he had to give her something to be effective. "What is the mission, Adrien, you have to tell me something. I can't go in blind."

"Sidda, please, I can't tell you more than that."

She'd had a bad day already and didn't have the patience to deal with him and the cloak and dagger behavior. "Well, what the hell can you tell me? You want my help, but you give me nothing to go on."

"For the last time, I can't tell you." He growled again but this time his tone made it final. She was going to help him, he knew she would, but she wasn't going to like it.

Sidda sighed heavily and cursed his stubbornness. It must have been classified or a huge mistake he was trying to fix. "How many?"

"A platoon. The commander is Lieutenant Tarquin Victus."

That meant only one unit. "You sent Blackwatch?" she said shocked and the gravity of the situation became a little more known. Blackwatch was the equivalent to N7…a whole damn unit of them. It was Cerrus' former command and the best of the best. If he sent them under his son's command something was terribly wrong. "What the hell did you get into?"

Victus remained quiet. "Will you do it?"

Sidda wanted to beat his head against the table. There was no Turian more stubborn than him. She sighed heavily with a disapproving expression. "Yeah…but you owe me an explanation. Give me what intel you…care to share and I'll gear up when we get there."

Victus wanted to go with her. It was his son after all. "Sid…" he began but trailed off.

She knew what he wanted to say. Tarquin was his only family, good kid, good officer, and great with tech. "I'll get him, Adrien." She reassured with a brief smile.

* * *

It had already been a long hard day and Sidda just wish for a time machine right now. Go back and fix her error that ways she didn't need to recount the tale to Nov. She raided the galley as everyone continued to settle in and found Garrus doing the same thing.

"Alright, Vakarian," she called and he turned to glance at her before returning to fixing his snack. "why the hell didn't you tell me you were married?"

"Umm…" he began and then sighed. "you had enough on your plate."

"Garrus, this is happy news. You can spring that on me any time you want." She told him and he shrugged. "Congratulations."

"Thank you." He replied and she leaned on the island he was preparing his food on. "And you? How are you doing. I'm assuming you told him."

Sidda sighed and shook her head. "I don't know. I told him on the Citadel and he's here but…he hasn't said anything to me."

Garrus didn't have magic words to make it all better. "Give it time. He loves you; anyone can see that. Victus might not be so lucky but, Nov loves you."

"You were the one who told me he'd flip out."

Garrus shrugged. "He has a temper, but it remains to be seen. Unless he's grown up." He went on muttering the last bit.

* * *

Nov sat on the couch in Sidda's quarters in total silence. He was still running her confession over and over in his mind while thinking about all the things he may have done wrong to cause it. They were going to Tuchanka to fill the Turian and Salarian side of deal.

The door opened and he glanced to Sidda. She noticed his bag wasn't unpacked yet and tried to hope that meant he just hadn't gotten around to it yet. "We're a couple hours out from Tuchanka." She said and he acknowledged with a grunt.

"Do you love him?" he asked bluntly. If she was truly still in love with Victus he would painfully let her go. He was terrified of her answer but deep down he knew the answer…at least he hoped he did.

The question was odd but she didn't fence with him. "No. Cal, I love you. Only you."

"Do you want to be with him, or do you want to be with me?"

"What?"

His patience was limited. "Do you want to be with him, or do you want to be with me?" he repeated with a firmer tone trying not to lose his temper.

"You. There will never be anyone else."

There already was someone else and the last thing he wanted to be was taken as a fool. To be the laughingstock. The Turian who lost his mate to someone else. "I meant what I said in that café." He told her with a tight sigh. "The only way you're gonna get rid of me is if you drop me down a black hole but I won't stay if I'm not wanted. So let me be clear this doesn't happen again. Not ever. Not with anyone. And you let me deal with him in my own way."

He set the terms and she didn't fight. She almost said not to hurt him, but she had to pick her battles and trust him to be as civil as possible with what she'd done. "Okay. I promise. I'll never break your trust again."

It wasn't what Nov was after, it only reminded him of the transgression, but it was her that he wanted. Only her. Now and forever. He approached her and got close enough to put his right hand on her cheek. "I love you."

* * *

The 13th Marine Division's 9th Platoon, colloquially known as 'Blackwatch', was the most legendary unit in the Turian military. It was well known for countless reasons however it was infamous for one event. Nearly a decade ago it's commanding officer, a young but extremely talented Captain named Tyr Cerrus, walked the unit through a covert mission with a death wish. He tripped a security measure allowing Batarian security to massacre his trapped squad, the only survivor was Deliah Rajin. Cerrus carried that black mark with him to this day. It was that reason that he didn't like being apart of this mission at all. Not even a little bit.

Sidda was still trying to figure out Victus' mission was. Blackwatch's involvement, commanded by his son no less, was a drastic clue but what did they need on Tuchanka? "Why would Victus place Tarquin in command of Blackwatch?" she asked mainly to the Turians that came along. Last she knew he wasn't the commander of Blackwatch but he was on team.

"He's been the commander for about six months now." Cerrus answered and checked the Mattock one more time. "He must have needed someone he could trust completely." He went on knowing exactly how Victus thought. Something big must have happened for him to deploy them from where they had been. "Something is wrong."

"Really? You think?" Nov shot back and Cerrus gave him a side look. Nov was snappy, the prideful Turian dealing with an unfaithful mate. Cerrus didn't have time for the bullshit and he really didn't have time for the love triangles bullshit. "If Tarquin fucked up, it'll blow back on the Primarch."

There was a sting in Nov's voice when he said that and Sidda let it go. He was still mad possibly still angry at her but there was a mission that needed doing so now wasn't the time. "Turian's aren't forgiving with failure." Sidda commented.

"Promoting family without merit tends to bite you in the ass." Nov said flatly. He invited himself along on the mission which created a little awkward tension between them. The Primarch ordered Cerrus to come along which only made him grumpier so as of now the only one that was content was Vega.

Sidda sat down next to him as the Kodiak rocked to the turbulence in Tuchanka's atmosphere. "I know we haven't worked this out completely yet but I need to know we can work together."

Nov look at her with the same look he'd given her on the Citadel. It was in his eyes, the hurt but he gave her his answer. "We'll be fine." He said and that had two meanings. As a working relationship they were fine and as couple they were fine too. He made his peace with her in their quarters, but it would take time for him to let it go. "I've failed at protecting you lately so where you go, I go."

"Why do I get the feeling that I'm in the middle of a soap opera?" Vega asked Cerrus as he noted the quiet exchange between Nov and Sidda.

Cerrus sighed as the level of irritation was coming to a head. "Because when it comes to Shepard, Nov, and Victus you are watching one."

"Terrific." Vega responded flatly.

* * *

Tuchanka was still a radioactive pile of rubble. It was hot and it smelled. The last time Sidda was on Tuchanka she got a breeding request after taking down a Thresher Maw as a part of Grunts Krannt. It was still a wasteland and dangerous. Everything on this planet was designed to kill.

Cerrus had been to Tuchanka before but now with the knowledge that his wife died here and how she died it made him look at this planet a different way. He hated this place. Vega was the backup that Sidda had brought with her and the only reason that Wrex did not question too hard about their mission was that Sidda was leading it.

Right now, they were following the path of destruction. Blackwatch's ship crash landed and left a trail of debris and escape pods in its wake. The story of what had happened was grim as well. The flight recorders pointed to Tarquin making an error and causing the crash. This wasn't going to be a great outcome.

* * *

Tuchanka was terrible, Tarquin never thought it would be a paradise but so far his jaunt on the post nuclear wasteland was nothing to write home about…or repeat. The remains of his squad were scattered and they had no way of knowing any distress call was received. He trusted that it was and that his father wouldn't abandon him.

"_Lieutenant Victus, this is Commander Shepard, do you copy?"_ he heard on the comms. His expression narrowed in confusion. Sidda he knew relatively well, the last time he saw her was a few weeks before the _Normandy_ was destroyed. He'd visited his father on the Citadel and had dinner with both he and Sidda. Growing up he'd never known his father to hop from female to female, at least not that he'd seen, but Sidda was different. Tarquin liked her and her death hit him as well.

"I though Shepard was dead?" Sergeant Octavio commented looking just as confused Tarquin was.

"So, did we." He said and responded to the call. "Sidda, good to hear your voice."

"_Tarquin, what's the situation?"_ she replied remaining professional.

He made a mistake and his troopers paid for it, he had way too many injured to be able to move forward and not all his men were accounted for. He had ten with him but that left over thirty unaccounted for. "Could be better, Commander, I have injured, and my people are unaccounted for."

"_We're coming to you. Are you secure?"_

"For now. We have a defensive position and are tending to our wounded."

"_Fire off a flare so we can get your position."_

That would give away their position, but it was a choice they had to make. They need extraction and help was on the way. "Valerian, fire off a flare." He ordered.

Valerian glared at him; his medic's bedside matter was okay if you were injured other than that she was a bit snappy. She'd commented on his command so far, his decision to employ clever tactics that resulted in a huge mistake and half the platoon MIA. She grumbled and did as ordered.

"Commander, my people are wounded, and we just gave away our position." He said matter of factly and Sidda understood his tone. The responsibly now fell on her and her team to ensure their survival.

"_I understand. We're coming."_ He heard her respond and he looked to his remaining squad members. They hadn't been shy about placing the blame. He made a mistake but he cared for his people.

"Cassian, on the perimeter." He ordered to the able bodied of his men. One of which was his Sergeant, Cassian Octavio and he was angry about the situation, so he silently questioned the order. "Now." He barked firmly. They lost faith in his leadership but they complied with his order. Two of his soldiers were seriously inured and he had walking wounded as well but those who could stood up and guarded the camp. Tarquin picked a good, defensible spot but if the Reapers threw enough enemies at them they would be overwhelmed. "Valerian, how are the wounded?"

"Silix has internal bleeding that I can't stop…only stem but he needs an infirmary sooner rather than later. I think Banna's back is broken but I can't be sure, we can't move him. Allius has a broken arm but nothing more, everyone else is walking wounded." She reported professionally. Octavio was uninjured, Tarquin had also escaped the crash with no more than a few bumps, Valerian was injured too but she left herself out of the report.

She moved tenderly so Tarquin deduced that it was broken ribs and nothing more. "And you?"

"I'm fine." She replied with a quiet snap.

"Dex-…"

Octavio, Allius, Redanin, and several others made their displeasure known but she only did her job. Tarquin was clever but he wasn't his father. "You did this Tarquin and now we get to pay for it. You and Cassian came out of it fine but the rest of us didn't, so with all due respect, Lieutenant, don't ask me again if I'm okay." She snarled to him. Her rank was equal to his and they had a fair friendship but she didn't let the situation slide.

Once the flare gave away their position they were on the clock, Reapers began to attack, it was easy enough at first to repel them but they could hear combat getting closer. Sidda was drawing near and bringing company with her. By the time Sidda got to them the Reapers had attacked in earnest and they saw the full spectrum of the Reaper force, from Husks to Harvesters the battle only weakened his forces. With two of his soldiers immobile he still had enough to mount a defense. They managed to defend themselves against the onslaught as Sidda and her team on the other side of the field were the bigger threat. He saw Sidda and her impressive biotic display tear a Brute apart with not too much effort and she had at least two Turians with her and an Alliance soldier.

"Cassian, sniper rifle." He ordered to his sergeant. Octavio didn't question and proceeded to provide the other team cover. The other team had a sniper as well, a Turian. When the Harvester arrived, his team took another hit, Aldwin and Regbo died swiftly when the Harvester blast hit and they was pretty much vaporized. Tarquin had never felt so frustrated or defeated by the time the Harvester fell to a Hydra rocket fired by the Alliance soldier with Sidda.

"Sound off." Tarquin ordered after the gunfire ceased.

"Check." Valerian answered and moved to the two wounded members. "Banna and Silix are okay also."

"Octavio and Redanin." The Sergeant announced and he pulled the other soldier to his feet.

"Dex, we need you. Schai took another hit." Sullus called and the medic moved to evaluate Allius who already had a broken arm.

"Copy." Tarquin acknowledged. He saw Aldwin and Regbo die and took a moment to collect himself. This was a disaster. He turned his attention from his angry squad and to someone he still couldn't get used to seeing alive. "Commander Shepard..." he greeted. "it's good to see you again."

Sidda hadn't changed much since the last time he saw her. The scars were missing from her face and it seemed that her hair was shorter. She appeared to be the same super soldier that was famous throughout the galaxy and for that he was grateful. "Tarquin," she greeted with a smile and a professional tone. "what's your situation?"

"Bad, Commander, over half my platoon is unaccounted for and I have two seriously injured but alive." He reported and noticed she had Nov and Cerrus with her and quickly deduced that she was sent by his father.

"We found a few on the way in. Escape pods with couple survivors, we also found…deceased on the way in too. We kept a record." She told him in the gentlest way possible. He was already having a bad day. "What happened, Tarquin?"

"Intel put heavy resistance in our path. It would have guaranteed casualties so to avoid that I took us low and through these ruins." He explained and felt even worse explaining his failure in the presence of two Spectres and Blackwatch's former commander. "When we encountered resistance there was no room to maneuver. I'd appreciate it if we would pick up the survivors you found on the way in when we head back to the ship."

Sidda cocked her head to him. "You're not going to complete your mission?"

"How? I'm down over thirty people and I just lost two more in that fight. We're a shell of what we were. Even I wanted to complete this mission, my soldiers don't."

Cerrus didn't stand for that mindset and couldn't help himself. "Lieutenant," Cerrus cut in abruptly. "a word."

Tarquin complied and Cerrus made sure he was out of view from the others. "Yes, Sir?"

"Get in there and get ahold of your troops." He ordered and understood the position Tarquin was in. "You made a mistake. So what? Own it and move on. Get in there and act like an officer or I'm gonna take over." Cerrus didn't want command of Blackwatch again, that chapter of his life was over though parts of it haunted him still but if he had to he would do what was necessary.

Tarquin wasn't a bad officer but he was new to combat command. People died. People made decisions and sometimes things went wrong. If Cerrus took over, Tarquin's advancement in the military was over and he knew it. Primarch's son or not. Turians were a hard bunch to please after a military disaster. "Yes, Sir." He nodded. "Regardless, we do need to regroup and the wounded need evac."

Cerrus agreed. "We got that covered. Now get in there. Commander, I suggest both shuttles to pick up the wounded and round up the survivors." Sidda nodded and opened the comms to Cortez and Isla.

* * *

Blackwatch was too chewed up to regroup on the surface, Isla took the second Kodiak and Garrus and collected the scattered survivors that had marked their positions. Cortez collected Sidda and the rest and somehow managed to get the overloaded Kodiak to the _Normandy_ where the Cargo Bay became a staging area. The Kodiaks only had room for the living so unfortunately the dead remained on Tuchanka and they had several wounded. Of the forty-four people he started with he only had twenty-one left and five of them were in the infirmary. Tarquin felt like he was going to be sick. On Sidda's order he picked ten to go with him back to Tuchanka and finish the mission with Sidda's help.

"Officer on deck!" Redanin announced and all the Turians, including Nov, fell into attention. For Nov it was a habit that was heard to break. Victus waved the show of respect off and had them carry on with what they were doing. The injured had been taken to Medical where Chakwas had some additional help from Mordin.

Victus knew Octavio and shook the career Sergeants hand as he moved on down the line before coming to his son. He was relieved to see him okay but wasn't sure if he wanted to know how he'd failed so completely.

"Dad," he greeted as the Primarch came face to face with him. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize just tell me what happened." He said gently. Tarquin was a good officer, high marks in leadership and strategy but listening to him explain that clever tactics drove this result irritated him. His son looked up to him and his reputation, but it bit him in the ass this time. His son looked defeated, embarrassed by such a failure for Palaven's most famous unit. "Mistakes happen, Tarquin, it's what you do with it that defines a leader."

Military pep talk from their greatest leader. "Yes, Sir." He replied and looked down from him.

"Are you okay?" he asked in his fatherly tone. It was hard being commanding officer and father…now it was impossible being Primarch and father.

Tarquin didn't even have a scratch on him after the crash. The Harvester explosion run his bell but other than that he was perfectly fine. It was another thing that upset him. He was perfectly fine but others weren't. "Yeah," he answered after a pause. "but a lot of my people aren't."

"Tarquin," Sidda interrupted. "did you select your squad?"

The younger Victus nodded. "Yeah. They're being outfitted now."

"Good, Adrien." She nodded and gestured for him to talk to her in private. "You want to tell me what's going on now?"

"No."

She growled her annoyance. "Damnit, Adrien, I just plucked your son out of a disaster."

He understood that and he was immeasurably grateful, but he still didn't want to tell her. "For the last time, leave it."

She cut him off before he could get too far. "I need to know."

"Leave it. That is an order."

"I'm not under your command now, Primarch, what else you got?" she said and almost sound like she was playing with him.

He cocked his head to her; he missed the banter, but she was irritating. "I've got plenty, Commander, take your pick but the answer is still no."

She rolled her eyes and growled, frustrated by the fact that he clearly didn't trust her with whatever super-secret mission was out there. "You know what, the longer you keep me in the dark the harder this is going to be. How long do you figure it'll take Wrex to find out that you're running an op?"

Wrex would kill him if he knew about this mission and he was surprised that the Krogan wasn't up his ass about operating on Tuchanka right now. "Sidda, do your job and be quiet about it." He snarled.

* * *

Both Kodiaks were employed, one had Isla as the pilot and Tarquin's team and the other had Cortez and her team. Cerrus wasn't happy to being pushed into going again, he didn't want anything to do with Blackwatch but he went anyway. Something was still off about it and the fact that Victus wouldn't even tell him irritated him what the situation was. You couldn't complete a mission successfully without all the information.

"Alright, Tarquin, what can you tell me?" she asked and was irritated while she asked it. No one could blame her for that. "If you can tell me anything at all."

Tarquin ignored the tone. He knew full well that his father was being evasive that meant that Tarquin had his own orders. _"There's a bomb on the planet, Commander, we were sent to defuse it before Cerberus could detonate it."_

Sidda made a face, rolled her eyes, and grumbled. "Fucking really? Cerberus? What the hell do they want with a bomb on Tuchanka?"

"Same thing they wanted on Sur'Kesh. Detonate a bomb on Tuchanka so the Krogan help their own people rather than Palaven." Garrus explained and it seemed plausible but Sidda felt like that wasn't the whole story. Why send a Turian team though?

They had other problems at the moment, Tarquin's drop ship was ahead of theirs and found the mess first. Cerberus wasn't who shot his first drop ship out of the sky but it just might be them this time. Cerberus must have known that they were after the bomb because they defended it with gusto.

"_Commander, if we go right down the middle they are going to blow us out of the sky. Suggest two insertion points."_ Isla said over the comms and Cortez concurred.

"Do it. Send rally point once we get down there and assess the resistance. Good luck, Lieutenant." Sidda told them and then stepped toward the cockpit. "Cortez, how's it look?"

"Like shit." He replied. He wasn't kidding, Cerberus tracked them and unleased a near nonstop volley of anti-aircraft flack and fire. Dropping into their landing zone was like dropping into a firing line. The best thing that could be done was to get off the Kodiak as quickly as possible so Cortez could bug out.

"Nov, Vega, to the right. Cerrus, Garrus, with me." Sidda ordered and then skirted the edge of Cerberus' foothold. There was more artillery fire than Sidda had encountered since the Citadel and navigating through it was difficult. Every explosion rattled their senses but true to his form Cerrus was an unshakable rock and took point. The deafening noise made it hard to concentrate but keeping to cover and expertly taking out the soldiers along the way was something to be lauded. Turians were, hands down, the best military in the galaxy.

"Everyone whole?" Sidda asked as the two teams arrived on the other side and in the hall.

"Yeah…I can hear bells ringing." Vega replied as he took a rear cover position.

"Like a symphony." She commented and shook her head to try and get it to stop.

"Haven't been through artillery like that in a long time." Cerrus added stayed on point with Sidda behind him. She tapped his back indicating she was ready to move and they followed his lead.

It wasn't long until they encountered resistance again only this time Cerberus had a decent set up complete with shield pylons and shield barricades.

"Those guys with the shields are really pissing me off." Vega said as Cerberus was well fortified.

Nov next to him and Sidda. "Everyone take cover." He said conversationally while tapping a few things on his Omni-tool. The Arch Grenade was his favorite grenade and he casually tossed it around the wall and into the middle of Cerberus' little post.

The grenade went off and arched a fatal level of electricity into anyone within its blast radius but that didn't mean that those lucky enough to be outside of it survived. The energy from the grenade blew up the generator powering the pylon and the shield barricades causing the arch electricity to walk from soldier to soldier like a living entity. One, well-placed grenade took out the whole squad.

Vega blinked to the sheer ease of the destruction and scoffed to the Turian engineer. "Nice job, Badass."

"God damn that was impressive." Sidda grinned to her husband.

"I know." He winked with a chuckle.

Cerrus rolled his eyes. "Oh please, don't stroke his ego."

Garrus looted thermal clips and lead them as they pressed on. "Sidda, they are dug in deep here. There is definitely more to this." he said simply voicing the same concern that the rest of them had.

"Of that I have no doubt." She replied.

"Why send a Turian team to handle this?" Cerrus questioned. The events didn't add up, no matter how much Turians tried to spin it, they wouldn't just offer help to the Krogan out of the goodness of their hearts.

Vega was a veteran soldier but he felt the bad vibe the rest did. He didn't need to be around from the beginning of the Reaper nightmare or even Sidda's involvement to know a shitty cover when he smelled one. "As much as I want to see Tarquin succeed here. I say you beat the truth out of him, Commander." Vega suggested and Cerrus gave a visible agreement to it.

"Second." Garrus piped up.

"Third." Cerrus agreed.

"I'll hold him." Added Nov. At least the team was in total agreement.

* * *

Cerrus was going to have a headache for the rest of the night after that explosion. The team was making good time until they found a pocket of Cerberus troops covering an escape. They were fortified extremely well so Cerrus used a Havoc strike, a new feature on the Armiger armor, to vanguard his way into the middle of them. Cerrus was still impressive to watch in combat and Sidda envied his skill. He operated on one philosophy: every member of his squad would come back alive. He'd been down the other road before…never again.

His combat was clean and concise but brutal but what he didn't look out for was the power generator at the base of the second turret. During his Turret Tango he clipped it and it exploded with enough force to destroy the other one and nearly knock him out.

"Tyr," he heard Nov call through his ringing head. "you okay?"

He managed to sit up from his place in the dirt and took a moment to collect himself. When he removed his helmet he felt his ears were bleeding and he wanted to vomit. "Ow." He replied simply.

"Concussion?" Nov asked as he bent down to look at his eyes.

"Probably." Cerrus replied and took a moment to drink some water.

Sidda surveyed their surroundings and Garrus and Vega took up forward and rear guard while they waited. "Impressive but reckless even for you." She chastised.

Cerrus didn't care, everything was going fine. "Thought it went okay. Who clipped it?"

Nov injected meds into the left side of his neck. Turian cocktail to help get him back on his feet. "You did." He answered then looked to Sidda. "He's good just give him a minute."

Sidda nodded slightly and checked in with the other team. "Team two, how are you doing?"

"_Nearly there, Commander. We encountered heavy resistance from Cerberus."_ Tarquin replied. _"You?"_

"Same. We'll be there momentarily." She answered looking at the map on her Omni-tool. They were on what used to be a highway and just over the hill were the coordinates for the bomb. "Team one, out."

True to Nov's word Cerrus was back on his feet in just a few minutes. His bell was still rung but that was something Dr. Chakwas got to examine later. As they trotted Garrus and Nov were thinking out loud.

"It would have to be a big one for it to be worth the trouble. Cerberus is good with throwing an endless supply of soldiers at a problem, but this seems a bit excessive for sabotage." Garrus said. He'd been around long enough to know how Cerberus operated, hell he helped Sidda cull their numbers while tracking Saren so he knew damn well that they didn't value their soldiers or scientists. "The Kelphic Valley has a bigger population than any other region so it would be the best site."

Garrus' logic was sound. "Yeah, but how would they be able to get here without the Krogan…" Nov began and then trailed off as paused midstep like something dawned on him. "Shit…I think I know what it is."

Sidda had turned as he had stopped moving, they were almost at the bomb. "What?"

Nov was still running it through his head, but it made sense. It would explain Victus' unwillingness to share the details and the urgency behind the mission. "And damn I hope I'm wrong."

He still hadn't answered her question as he broke into a cautious sprint up the incline. The map put the bomb over the hill and when he finally got a look at it his suspicions were confirmed. "On this episode of 1000 Ways to die…" Nov commented and looked over at Sidda who was now looking at an enormous bomb that looked to have been excavated. "I knew it. That's a Turian bomb, Sid."

"What?" she replied and turned toward him. Nov's knowledge of weapons and explosives wasn't in question but just as Nov had his 'ah ha' moment down the hill it was falling into place for her right now. "Adrien, you son of a bitch." She grumbled. "That's what he didn't want to tell me. Galactic peace…yeah…that's an understatement." A Turian bomb on Tuchanka…the Krogan would go to war.

Nov had restrained himself against acting against Victus…he may get the chance to put his head on a pole this time. "That looks an awful lot like K Series…probably 9100 fusion bomb. We're talking Krogan Rebellion Era weapons of mass destruction…set on a fault line…that thing will crack this planet like an egg."

"Rebellion Era? Why?"

"Buried by the Turians after the war ended. A deterrent against a future uprising." Garrus explained and kicked himself for not coming to this conclusion earlier.

"Now Cerberus wants to get their slimy paws on it." Vega put in. "Yeah, this'll be fun. They detonate it, we die and lose the war."

Garrus couldn't help but chuckle as that wasn't the worst outcome he could think of. "On the other hand, if we stop Cerberus from detonating it, we still die – after Wrex kills us – and we still lose the war."

"One crisis at a time, Archangel." She said with a slight chuckle to his attempt to lighten the mood with some morbid humor. "Can you disarm it?" she asked Nov.

The engineer nodded sharply. "Disarm the trigger. It's old but should still be able to access it's brain and shut it off. Might be a smaller explosion from the conventional payload but fusion material will be safe."

* * *

Tarquin's team secured the bomb site just a few minutes before Sidda got there. By the look on the Commander's face one of her squad told her just that this little Krogan gift actually was and she was not happy. "Site secure, Commander." He said continuing to be business as usual.

"Did your father know?" Sidda snapped to Tarquin as she stormed up to him. Tarquin was his father's height so once again Sidda was facing an enormous figure. If the Primarch knew, she was going to string him up.

Tarquin never wanted to keep her in the dark, but he did as he was ordered, which was not to tell Sidda what was going on as it was classified. He reluctantly nodded. "I was under orders not to tell you, Commander. I'm sorry."

She cursed; the blame wasn't on Tarquin. Poor guy was stuck between what was the right thing to do and orders from the Primarch…who was also his father. "Did he think I wouldn't notice?" Nov bit back in a harsh sardonic tone.

"He didn't put it here, Nov, and he sent me to fix it." Tarquin snarked back as he defended his father. "Turians placed that bomb at the end of the war to make sure the Krogan didn't rebel again."

Cerrus scoffed to the situation. "I always thought that was a rumor." he commented.

Garrus agreed, the urban myth people talked about like what kind of research went on at Vendabar, what Palaven Intelligence did to Special operatives that vanished into thin air. "Which is why Cerberus wants to blow it up and pin it on the Turians. It'll work too."

Nov challenged Tarquin and took a step closer to him. "If he'd have been up front about it we would have a better battle plan rather than dicking around fighting about it." He snapped with an irritated snarl.

Tarquin didn't care that almost everyone he was standing with was a living legend. Nov was a tech genius at everyone at the academy still talked about, Garrus was Archangel, Sidda was Sidda, and Cerrus he'd known for years, the infamous Tyr Cerrus. That being said, he was his father's son and that meant his temperament. "Maybe true but deal with it." He said harshly not backing down from Nov.

"Cal, back off." Sidda said to Nov to keep some semblance of comradery. "I will deal with Victus later." She added and pushed Nov back from him. "You're my battle plan, Cal. You disarm it and the rest of us will throw Cerberus a party."

"Commander, I can help with the bomb." Tarquin said. He wanted to be useful and he was still looking for redemption from the disaster his previous mission turned out to be.

Sidda didn't hesitate with her answer. Nov could probably handle it on his own but Tarquin was good with tech as well and needed the win. "Fine." She said and looked at her husband. "Good luck, Casanova."

He gave her a smile and a wink. "Keep your head down, baby." He said and looked past her to Vega. "James!"

Vega chuckled and knew where he was going. "Yeah, yeah, I know, Badass: keep an eye on her." Vega had a nickname for everyone. He called Garrus 'Scars' and 'Lola' was chosen for Sidda and Nov pretended to be okay with that but apparently Vega gave Nov the nickname of 'Badass'.

Sidda turned to the rest of the team. "Alright, Cerrus, Garrus sniper positions. James, with me." She said and addressed Tarquins team. "Names. Skip the rank."

Tarquin brought a small team as advised by Sidda. He selected the best members he had available even though they had criticized his command. "Octavio." The Sergeant introduced. He was older than all the rest of them and was clearly a seasoned soldier.

"Velarian." the first of two female Turians nodded. She was the teams Medic and Sidda had spoken to her on the _Normandy_.

"Hittarus." The second female followed. She was one of the rescued soldiers from the second escape pod they came across.

"Sullus." He was a clear Sentinel as the tech armor was hard to miss.

"Redanin." Redanin was tall, broad, and rivaled Nov in his good looks. The solider was barefaced and carried a modified Revenant.

Sidda nodded sharply and divided them up. "Redanin with us." She selected and a shot Sullus.

"Contact left." Garrus reported and took his own shot. His sniper rifle barked and the head of the Cerberus trooper disappeared. "More on the way. Let's get this done."

The Tech armor stopped the round from causing damage beyond destroying the tech armor so he got to his feet after a moment. "Cal, Tarquin, get it done." She ordered as the teams didn't need orders to go where they were needed.

"We need cover." Nov called over his shoulder and Sidda shouldered her Mattock. She'd practiced with barriers before like the Asari could produce but this was the first time in actual action. The biotic barrier went up and effectively protected her husband and Tarquin.

Nov cocked his head to her; he'd never seen her use this in combat but she was an evolving biotic. "Shit, that's new. Where'd you learn that?"

"Samara."

"How long can you hold that?"

"Fast is better." She replied and concentrated on the barrier.

"Right." He said as he and Tarquin got to work as the shooting commenced behind them. "You better know what you're doing."

Tarquin ignored Nov and quickly gained access to the programming of the bomb. "Looks like Cerberus got in there already."

"Do you know what you are doing?"

"Yes." He snapped annoyed with the questions. Nov was hard to rival when it came to Tech but there was more than one tech genius on this team. "No programming code exist anymore but I should be able to do this by hand." The console blared an error and Tarquin huffed. It was one problem after another and now he had Nov hovering over his shoulder. "Cerberus set up a firewall."

"Of course they did." He replied derisively and flicked through is omni-tool. "This should hack through it."

Tarquin gave him a glare. "Stop showing off." He snapped and Nov merely snorted. "That's some pretty heavy encryption, Nov."

Nov scoffed pointedly. "Not my first time, Young One." He said with pride. "I hacked my way through a Batarian base and broke into the Shadow Brokers super-secret ship." He continued as the program started to bypass the firewall Cerberus put in place.

"I said stop showing off."

"Cal!" Nov heard Sidda shout. Her barrier failed and Redanin ushered her out of the way and into cover.

"Need more time, Sid." He shouted back.

"Fantastic." She said with sarcasm. "Take your time. We're just hosting a tea party."

Nov smiled. "Yes, my Love." He replied ignoring the glare from Tarquin. He couldn't focus on the firefight behind him, he trusted that Sidda could handle herself and that the addition of Cerrus and Garrus would make sure she stayed on her feet.

Sidda slid back into cover trying to get away from a enemy that had a line on her. "Cerrus, you wanna ping that bastard or do you just want him to kill me?" she snapped harshly and fully expected the grumpy Turian to snap back but instead he let his rifle talk. The Cerberus Centurion's head vanish with a single shot.

"Anything else I can help you with, Your Highness?" he said flatly.

"Of all the time's he picks now to crack a fucking joke?" she muttered in response.

"Two more shiploads coming in…you want to put those biotics to use or just sit by and let us to the heavy lifting." Cerrus informed and earned a garbled Turian expletive from Sidda. Someone had been teaching her Turian.

"Even in the middle of a firefight you never quit." Garrus said and kept himself doing the same thing that Cerrus was doing. Maintaining a long-distance relationship with the enemy.

Minutes ticked by and after what felt like an eternity Nov finally broke through. "Got it." He proclaimed.

Tarquin growled loudly as the screen changed to a countdown. Cerberus had done more damage than they had anticipated. "Damnit! Cerberus hacked the trigger, 60 seconds to detonation." A seemingly simple plan was becoming a nightmare.

Nov wanted to curse; Cerberus yet again was making his life miserable. He didn't curse but his irritated sigh was heard clear as day and shared by Tarquin. "What'd they do take lessons from me?" he muttered and tried to work more magic.

"I'll manually disconnect." Tarquin said and started up the latter to the top of the superstructure.

"Wait! No! Damnit." He yelled but the code was difficult and couldn't follow him up. The Broker's ship was the hardest thing he'd had to do thus far is in his career and this little Cerberus afterthought really shouldn't be this difficult. It wasn't just one security measure, it was many, layered and layered.

Tarquin made it up the latter as a speed that would have made the drill instructors at boot camp proud. He looked down to find his squad and Sidda's squad fighting an Atlas and groups and groups of Cerberus troops. They were succeeding in keeping them at bay but this was taking too long. He activated the console at the top and started working. He needed to activate the mag lock in the center to be able to release the trigger. The bomb was a thousand years old and he worried that he didn't work. He hoped it worked or Nov would need to hack is way through the surprises left by Cerberus. The lock opened and he crossed the narrow passage to manually release the lock.

The measures placed on the trigger were getting the better of Nov. "Fuck!" he cursed as another layer got in his way. They really wanted this thing to go off. The string of curses was in Turian under his breath, this was getting annoying.

High above, Tarquin watched the clamps released one at a time and the bombs payload dropped into the cavern it was dug out from. Nov was startled by the explosion and skittered back then panicked when the countdown reached. Nothing happened and he looked up to Tarquin standing at the edge of the access latter. "He did it." He said to himself and whoever was within earshot.

Tarquin felt a weight lift from his shoulders, he corrected a mistake. He fulfilled his mission despite the considerable help and considerable misfortune. He breathed a breath of relief and took a moment, this didn't fix everything, but it was a step. Cerberus was being pushed back and the Atlas they'd been fight exploded after a dazzling biotic display from the woman his father still loved. He didn't see the shot that hit him, he just felt it. The round ripped though his light armor in his upper left breast. He fell backward onto the narrow access platform.

"Tarquin!" Nov shouted as he saw him take the hit. He scrambled up the latter as eh could still hear gunfire down below. Sidda and her team had done well in pushing Cerberus back but he was more concerned with Tarquin. When he reached the top, Tarquin was flat on his back on a very narrow piece of the access bridge. "Tarquin, answer me." He said and pulled him back to a more manageable position. There was so much blood but Tarquin was alive; conscious but shocked and alive.

The pain from the injury actually made Tarquin's ears ring. The two weren't connected but that was an oddity that he'd think about later. "The bomb?" he asked in a strangled voice as Nov appeared above him.

"Defused. You did it, hold still." He said and tended the wound. There was so much blood, it seeped dark blue which means it hit the vein in the upper torso. "Hang in there." He coached and tapped the comm. "Sid, I need a medic up here right now. Victus is hit."

"Medigel."

"I got it. You're losing a lot of blood. Stay still." Nov's Omni-tool confirmed that it did hit the vein. "You are some kind of stupid, you know that." He reprimanded. "What the hell were you thinking."

Tarquin groaned partly the pain and partly the scolding he was receiving. "You were too slow. Old tech…manual override works 100% of the time."

He glared at him. Offended to being called 'too slow' though the program didn't get the better of him. "You got yourself shot, you idiot."

Tarquin groaned again. "You need to work on your bedside manner."

Nov gave him a mock smile. "I'm an engineer not a nursemaid."

* * *

Chakwas rushed Tarquin into surgery and was aided by his team medic, Dex. Tarquin would be fine the blood loss was coming from a shredded vein that was a relatively easy to fix but the injury wasn't mild. The danger of blood clots was very real and, just like in Humans, could kill him easily if one reached a vital organ. Nov likened the injury to the one he'd sustained in the past on this one didn't shatter the shoulder, it punched clean through…lucky bastard.

Now that the truth was out Victus knew the debriefing with Sidda wasn't going to be fun. It was only the two of them in the conference room, which was not a good sign anyway. If it were a simple debriefing, she'd have met him in the War Room. Wrex wasn't there either but he wasn't going escape that wrath either.

"I heard Chakwas say that Tarquin's going to be okay." She said and Victus nodded. He could not express how grateful he was for that.

"Yes." He replied. "Thank you. I don't know what had you not saved him." Losing Tarquin would have broken him and he didn't want to admit that.

Sidda turned from her position to fold her arms across her chest and lean back on the table. "I didn't. Cal did."

Nov was a soldier and conducted himself as such on the battlefield, no matter his feelings. "I'll be sure to express my gratitude." He said sincerely.

"I'd include an apology with that too."

He gave her a puzzled expression. "What?"

Her sigh reflected how she felt, she was disappointed…in him. "That mission was a cluster fuck because you didn't give me all the information." She said coldly. "I had Callus Nov with me, the best engineer I've ever seen in my life, and Try Cerrus who's amazing with anything that goes boom. You withheld mission critical information from me and your son nearly died because of it."

He was tired of the same argument. "I do not need to tell you classified information. Would you tell me everything about Earth?"

She resisted the urge to punch him. "That's not the point, Primarch, if I'm on the mission I need to know. The half-baked plan we figured out on the bombs doorstep would have been planned and executed with precision…I had _Cerrus_ with me for Christ's sake Cerberus probably would never have seen us coming."

He shook his head. He'd never liked being on opposite sides from her, as a soldier and leader she was better than most could have ever imagined. "I should-…" he trailed off. "I should have trusted you. The more people who knew the more I risked the Krogan finding out."

"Well, I can tell you that he probably knows now…you and I get to deal with that." She griped. Her irritation was warranted, and, in her position, he would feel the same. "We have to work together, Adrien, no more lies. Cards on the table or the Reapers and Cerberus are going to beat us."

"SHEPARD!" a roar was hear through the bulkhead. No one else on the ship could make that noise except an angry Wrex.

"Oh…here we go." She mumbled and turned to face the door was Wrex found them both. He had a bone to pick with the Primarch.

* * *

The Turian bunk was nearly full when Nov entered, the one he wanted was in there and that was all that mattered. Everyone knew what happened between Sidda and Victus and it angered Nov, Turians were proud and his pride had been wounded and his trust broken by both Sidda and Victus. "Give us the room." He said to them all but kept his eyes on Victus.

The three Turians and Isla looked at each other and then to Cerrus. Ranking officer and for someone reason they took after his lead. The room cleared leaving Nov and Victus alone.

"You and I need to talk." Nov said and Victus had been waiting for this. The anger Nov was surly feeling was something that Victus didn't fault him for. He would be angry as well.

"She told you." Victus said. It was a comment not a question, Sidda was honest and loved Nov so it wasn't a stretch to know that she told him the truth of her indiscretion.

Nov had very little patience at present "Of course she told me." He hissed trying hard to keep himself composed. "And despite it I love her. I understand that you two didn't get a fair shake. I know you love her still and have realized the mistake you made but…I will issue you the warning you once gave me." He told him and took a few slow steps toward him. Victus didn't move from his position, an angry Turian was dangerous but Nov wasn't going to do anything rash, given the galactic situation. "She is _my _mate. She has my mark, my name, and my heart. Let me be quite plain, if you touch her again I'll kill you."

He was now face to face and in striking distance with him. Being threatened was to be expected, Victus wholeheartedly understood. For a Turian raised with the Rylo beliefs, like Nov had been, marriage was a sacred oath and he had the right to defend it when he was wronged or that oath was broken. The Rite of Honor. "I understand." He said but didn't dip his head in submission.

"I mean it!" Nov growled harshly and pushed him back a step but Victus slapped his hand away with a snarl nearly starting a scuffle between them.

Victus didn't get pushed around, not even in a situation like this. He remembered clearly what warning Nov referred to and this was reminiscent of that minus Nov's shattered shoulder. "I said I understand." He snapped with the authoritative voice Nov was conditioned to adhere to. "Do not mistake my composure for disrespect. I do love her and I know I made a mistake but I lost that opportunity. What happened the other day will not happen again."

Nov was still angry and Victus could see it. The anger was that born of betrayal, he couldn't or wouldn't take it out on Sidda which left Victus. The fact that Nov didn't let his anger fall to Sidda confirmed that Nov was a good man and deeply loved Sidda. Things would never be fixed between himself and his former subordinate and he accepted that. Nov accepted the words and abruptly left before he did something rash.

"Callus," Victus called firmly and the Turian paused as the informal use of his first name. "thank you for saving my son." Nov lingered a moment but accepted it then left.

* * *

Sidda decided to not think or work or war after retiring to her quarters for the night. It had been a long day and it very late at night, before she went to bed she wanted to read a book. She was alone in her quarters and hadn't seen Nov since coming back from Tuchanka, part of that worried her. Nov entered and spared her a look, he may have made his decision but the hurt was still in his eyes. It was painful to see.

"You alright?" she asked as he sat down on the bed and began to remove his boots.

He'd just come from Victus and turn around the ship to cool his head. "I'm fine."

"You don't have to stay here if you don't want to." She said after long silence.

Nov looked over at her. The thought never crossed his mind. His oath as a husband notwithstanding, he loved her. Nothing she could do would change that and he believed her when she said that her indiscretion would never happen again. He stood and moved over to her hold out his left hand to her.

She looked up from her book and took his hand. His expression was gentle as she stood close to him. "There is nowhere I'd rather be, Sidda." He said and leaned his forehead down to hers.

"I love you." She replied and looked up at him before kissing him.


	6. Chapter 6: PTA Meeting

_**Note: Thank you all for the favorites and follows. As always, I apologize for the delay, I only have so much brain capacity and refuse to upload something subpar. **_

_**Feedback is appreciated. The rating for this will also be changed due to a request for a little more juicy bits. **_

_**Please enjoy, Chapter Six: PTA Meeting**_

**Mass Effect**  
"Foreign Relations"

**Chapter Six: PTA Meeting**

Cerrus couldn't sleep, no big surprise, he'd never slept well but his insomnia got worse when there was a crisis. The Reaper War qualified as a crisis and he had other things on his mind besides that. He thought of Tali, the last he heard she was fine with the fleet but there were things going on within the fleet that worried him. He missed Tali, in the years he'd spent alone he was happiest when he was with her. After his resignation he'd intended to join her in the flotilla, his military skills would have been invaluable to them and he was happy help. He tried not to think of Taetrus, his family, missing or otherwise. His brother was still missing, and he had a bad feeling. It also didn't help that the _Normandy_ was on Earth time and he was on Palaven time.

When he couldn't sleep, he did the same thing he always did. He worked. The armory was somewhere that things made sense. Something he could focus his mind on, mistakes could get someone hurt so when he was working on armor and weapons he focused his mind on that and that alone. Space was a premium on the _Normandy_ so the armor in the hanger deck had Vega snoozing.

He set up quietly and went through the arms lockers. Sidda's was one that he paid close attention to, but he'd never tell her that. Rifle and pistol was her typical loadout and she was fantastic with both. That being said he paid close attention to her weapons and her armor, they couldn't lose Sidda and he'd do what he could to make sure it never happened.

He'd lost track of time as he moved on through the lockers. Calibrating and cleaning by the time he was done everything was in top notch order. Still, the only weapon he didn't touch was Garrus' sniper rifle, that weapons was an instrument of precision and Garrus would murder him if something was changed. He rubbed his eyes and finished off the cold dextro coffee, his eyes were tired, and his mind was somewhere in between awake and tired. He was working on his equipment now, there was minor damage from the turret but nothing serious.

He heard something around the corner, voices…actually, it was a recording. His Omni-tool showed the shipboard time was 0530 and he stepped around the crate that blocked his view of the control center, he found Cortez intently watching a recording on the console. Cortez clearly had not seen him and the longer he listened the more he realized that he shouldn't be listening to it. It was a private message and by its content it wasn't cheerful, it was clear he'd lost a loved one to the Collectors. He felt like he was intruding and tried to quietly leave, the last thing he wanted was to eavesdrop on something like this and imagined the violation if someone had done it to him.

His escape wasn't successful. "Major," Cortez began in a slightly shaky tone as he wiped the tears from his cheeks and cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."

Cerrus felt embarrassed and cleared his throat as well while he stammered for the words. "I've been here all night." He commented but that was irrelevant information. He still felt like he was intruding on a private moment, it wasn't proper to listen in. "I apologize. I didn't mean to disturb you. I'll go."

"Major," he called and Cerrus turned. "Nov mentioned that you…you lost your wife."

Cerrus straightened and his mandibles clinched partly because he was trying to peacefully handle the situation and partly because he was reconciling why Nov felt the need to blab his personal history. He'd beat Nov later and addressed Cortez now. "Yeah." He answered quietly. "The Collectors killed your mate?"

"Ferris Fields." He replied.

Despite his feelings on Humans, it was private information and felt compelled to apologize. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to listen in."

Cortez wasn't bothered by that; Vega and Shepard had heard it. He couldn't stop playing it. "Does it get any easier?"

Cerrus was uniquely suited to talk on the subject even though he did not like to. "No." he replied honestly. It didn't matter the species; mates were mates and losing one was an experience like no other. "It's been almost ten years and nothing's easier. You just…learn to live with it."

There was a connection in shared loss and Cortez never expected to be talking to a Turian about this. It was a strange time indeed. "I thought I was over it, thought I'd moved on. Then the world ends, and this is what I grab?"

Cerrus understood. He used to have recordings of Anara but managed to reduce that to an image. Stages of grief were different from person to person. "I understand." He said and moved toward him. "I had a recording of Anara talking to me about what she was going to make for dinner. I played it over and over and over again…I still have it."

Listening to someone talk about making dinner was a hell of a lot nicer than hearing panic before being taken by the Collectors but it was a sweet story. "How'd you get over it?"

"I haven't. I know I never will." He answered but knew why he asked it. Everyone had probably told him that he should get over it or let it go. It wasn't that simple for some people. "It's not something you have to get over, that person was a part of your life so much so that you vowed to spend the rest of it with them. How you deal with it is up to you…but I'd balk at using me as a role model."

For Cortez, the truthful words were comforting, someone who understood the pain and understood that nothing about it was simple. For Cerrus, the words surprised him; he understood the loss but knew for a fact that he'd never be able to let it go.

He found Cerrus intriguing. On the surface he was prickly and grumpy but knowing a little more about him shed light as to why. He'd heard the stories and gossip as they spread like wildfire on a ship this small but chose to reserve any judgement. Cerrus appeared unfriendly but right now…he was just what he needed to be, a sympathetic ear. "You know you're not as unfriendly as people warned."

Cerrus shrugged, he had heard that many times before. "Give it time, Lieutenant, that assessment will change."

Cortez chuckled and extended his hand to him. "Thank you, Major."

"Tyr." He corrected and shook his hand firmly.

"Steve."

* * *

The morning alarm sounded and startled Nov awake. This was day ten of the Reaper invasion, ten days since his home fell to the Reapers and killed his mother and cousin in the process. He still tried not to think about it. Instead he thought of the woman next to him, his mate, and the person he loved more than anything else. Sidda was on her left side and he saw a clear view of the healing bruises and the fresh bite mark on the upper right side of her back. Turians bit when they mated and he got a little carried away when she managed to leave a mark on his neck. The female's bite was a part of Turian mating but she'd break her teeth trying anywhere else but his neck. When she finally managed to succeed it ignited a whole new level of passion for him.

He reached over her and shut the alarm off and she stirred under him. "Morning." He whispered before settling back in behind her and pulling her tight.

"Time to see what new fresh hell is waiting for me now." She muttered and he shook his head.

"No, no. Don't think like that. You're not in this alone, I'm here with you every step of the way." He said and she smiled inwardly. She didn't have to voice how she felt, he knew without even asking. This wasn't her first insurmountable task but he could see when it felt like her alone against the universe.

She rolled over in his arms and pushed him to his back so she could straddle him. "How do you know just what to say?" she asked, and he sat up to be close to her.

"I don't know." He replied and ran his fingers through her hair. "I'm just that good." He finished and she giggled to his playful behavior. He took a handful of her hair in his right hand and made a fist gently. Sidda felt his erection press easily into her as Nov held his position and kept a firm grip on her hair.

Sidda's moan was music to his ears but he force her still as he snugged his entire length into her. He growled to the way she felt. People said Asari were the best lovers but in his opinion now that crown belonged to Humans. The best kept secret that he intended to keep. He smirked to the totally erotic look on her face then growled as the agonizing stillness took it's toll on him. He purred but it sounded more like a growl and flipped Sidda to her back.

She let out a squeaking moan as Nov did everything possible to make her forget about the outside world. He nuzzled her neck and felt the need to bite her again, he didn't but he'd learned that a light bite made her crazy. He listened to her noises and growled in her ear. "Mine." He growled and raked his teeth on her again.

He rocked back on his knees and took her hips in his hands pulling her to him. If he climaxed near her neck or shoulders he bite her again and she may shoot him for it. Instead he gripped her hips tight and gave a guttural growl.

* * *

Sidda was out the door first, it was tough talking a shower with Nov trying to start stuff they didn't have time to finish. They weren't late yet but they were getting close. Sidda had her own meetings to attend and Nov had inserted himself in meetings he may not have been invited to but Victus could either go with him or fight it. The Primarch didn't want to fight.

Nov snorted when he entered the war room, granted he wasn't as early as he would have liked to have been after playing with Sidda for a while but Cerrus, of course, was the first one there. "Come on, Tyr, don't you ever sleep?"

The short answer was no. "I have mastered the art of living on the minimum." He replied and gulped down the cup of coffee to his right.

"I'm sure that stuff helps." He said and could smell the stuff from where he was. Cerrus made his coffee undrinkable for most anyone else. Because he didn't sleep well, he made it too strong for anyone else. "I think I'd rather drink battery acid."

Cerrus chuckled and cocked his head to the side when he observed Nov. "What the hell happened to your neck?" he asked and Nov smirked.

"I bit myself." He answered with the smirk still on his face. "Recognize it? You used to have one yourself."

Cerrus rolled his eyes. "Shut up." He hissed. The bite from Sidda did heal and was only visible if you _really_ looked for it.

Victus came down from the QEC and didn't look happy. Ten days had passed since his planet came under fire and it was the hardest thing he'd ever experienced. He regarded Nov and Cerrus standing at the map table in the War Room. He had a surreal moment as he looked at them: a flashback to his command with them as the two best officers he'd served with. He'd failed them both in some regard but Cerrus was the biggest one. By sheer virtue of timing…he still had Cerrus in his command.

"Something wrong, Primarch?" Nov asked and Victus shifted his attention to his former officer.

"Casualty report." He replied sounding dejected. "Palaven's at a stalemate. Coronati, Corinthus, and Maridus, all three of them, are holding their own but it won't last. We still have fuel; the Reapers are having a hard time walking through Admiral Indaril and the 79th at Gemmae." He said and then leaned forward on the table. He looked at Nov knowing he was going to be acutely interested in the next report. "I also got a report from Veliraka on Rylo," Nov looked up sharply. "the Reapers are harvesting not destroying but the General is holding strong."

"Any idea on the casualties?"

"Nothing official. With the destruction of the 3rd Division and the defense platform the majority of the planet is in chaos." He said and sighed heavily. This was a battle that was impossible to win…even with the Krogan. "Let's focus on getting the Krogan."

"Are you getting along with Wrex then?" Sidda interrupted as she came through the secured door.

Victus got an angry earful from the Krogan for the bomb he secretly tried to manage. In the end, Wrex was smart. Victus didn't put it there and tried to manage it but that didn't prevent admonishment, all Victus needed to do was tell him about it. He looked to the Krogan who walked in a few moments behind her. "For the most part." He said with a clipped tone.

The Krogan grunted. "So long as you keep up your end any issues between us can be solved later."

Sidda agreed with that. "Good. Mordin is still working on the cure. Talk to me about this gun."

"Rebellion Era. Planetary defense…it shot down several Turian ships and had been abandon for years now." Wrex explained. "I have scouts that say Cerberus is sniffing around."

Sidda's expression mirrored her groan. "Can I go one damn day without hearing that name?"

"Should have blown them up when you had the chance." Cerrus commented and Sidda made a face. She did…a few times. Passed information on to the Alliance, stole the _Normandy_, blew up the Collector Base, she'd done as much as possible except kill the Illusive Man himself.

"I did." She stated and sighed heavily. "What do they want the gun? Krogan don't have ships and the only ship in orbit right now is us."

"Personally, I don't care why they want it. They're not getting it." Wrex said.

* * *

The mission of the day was the planetary gun that Cerberus was keen on, helping Wrex with anything that he needed was good for building trust. Victus knew that and used Blackwatch to his advantage. After the debacle with the bomb he still had the remains of the unit crowded onboard and his son was still in the infirmary. He'd offload them onto another ship once he had the change but right now they might be useful. Valerian was doing well as the commander and they aided the Krogan with Reaper sightings.

Tarquin had to go through two surgeries by Chakwas and Mordin. His shoulder was fine but he had to have a synthetic graft to subclavian vein. "How are you, son?" he asked.

"Tired of staring at the ceiling." Tarquin answered. The pain he felt was dull but that was only because of the pain medication he was on. "You're taking me off of Blackwatch aren't you."

Victus had faith in his son, he made a mistake, things went wrong but he was a natural leader. It crossed his mind to relieve him of the command but the person he wanted to take command refused. "No." he answered simply and pulled a seat up next to his bed. "Your second, Valerian, is managing quite well, but you'll stay in command. Once we are able we'll get you to the Citadel."

"Silix and Banna?"

"Dr. Chakwas says they are stable. Surgery corrected the internal bleeding for Silix but Banna's back is broken. Compression fracture, multiple vertebrae." he explained, and Tarquin immediately felt responsible. "Accidents happen, Tarquin, what happened to them was not your fault."

"Agree to disagree…Primarch." His son responded tightly.

Victus didn't blame him for his attitude. He was wounded, tired, and felt responsible for everything that went wrong. He was his father's son in that regard. "Rest, Tarquin." He said before getting up and leaving him to heal.

* * *

Sidda made her rounds after talking to Wrex and Victus and came to EDI and Joker to get their opinion on the mission. Seeing EDI as the synth that tried to kill her was still hard to accept. Nov didn't say it but he was unnerved around her. He didn't mind EDI the AI but EDI the synth was another story.

Victus met her on the isle between the CIC and the cockpit. "Sid," he began and the awkwardness between them was still palpable.

"How's Tarquin?" she asked pushing past it. They could be adults about this.

He appreciated her concern. "He's fine. He'll be on his feet in a few days." He said and Sidda saw that he had more to say. "Sid, we don't have time for this. The casualty reports from Palaven are staggering."

Sidda held her hands out to the side and gave him a shrug. "I understand that, but you want the Krogan, they need help too."

"Right from the mistake you can't seem to shake."

She sighed heavily and started walking. "Seriously, you wanna pile on the Cerberus train too? I know. But we can't do anything for Palaven until we cure the genophage and we have to wait for Mordin on that."

He stopped her from walking into the CIC. "I spoke to Mordin."

"And?"

"He said it'll be done when it's done."

Sidda laughed. "Spirits."

"My sentiments exactly."

"I'll talk to him."

"Thank you." He nodded and kept walking with her. "I suggest we go to the Citadel as well. Off load some of the wounded."

"Yeah, as soon as we're done with this."

"Commander, a moment please." Traynor requested and Sidda gestured for Victus to go ahead. "We've received a distress call…from Grissom Academy."

Sidda looked past Traynor to another crewman behind the Specialist. "Get Cal up here." She ordered. "I thought Grissom was already evacuated?"

"A handful of biotic and engineer students stayed behind. The distress call was apparently received by a Turian ship or ordinarily I'd say we have nothing to worry about."

"But?"

"_The distress call bears a striking resemblance to the one used as a lure for the disabled Reaper vessel."_ EDI said and Sidda blinked.

"Cerberus? Cerberus is at Grissom?" Sidda ground her teeth. The worst thing she could ever have done was get in bed with Cerberus. They were a pain in the ass before now they were just being rude. "Son of a bitch, Cal's gonna flip."

"Cal's gonna flip about what?" Nov asked as the lift opened and he heard his name.

"Remember the disabled Collector ship?" she asked and her husband made a suspicious face.

"You mean the Illusive Man's trap?" he commented. "No, no, I forgot about that…and all the other times he's tried to kill you."

Sidda appreciated how protective he was. "Brace yourself. The signal used to fake the Turian distress call is back this time used as a response to a distress call…for Grissom."

"Cerberus is at Grissom Academy?" he asked and no part of that comment was good. "Sid, David is still there."

"I know and no matter what it is there is nothing good about Cerberus being there." She said and sighed over the situation. "Let me sort it out, Cal. We're certainly going to do _a_ mission…question is which one."

Nov left and Sidda leaned on the railing. "Cerberus…I swear…what do I have to do drop a fucking bomb on them?" she complained.

"Is David his son?" Traynor asked sound a little confused. David was a human name and she inferred that he was human from that.

Sidda shook her head. "Just a brilliant young man Cal rescued from a horrible situation. Took on the role of his legal guardian."

* * *

Cerrus and Wrex were together in the War Room but all she was looking for was Wrex. "Problem, Wrex." She announced and Wrex scoffed loudly.

"There's a change of pace." He muttered in response. "What now?"

"We got a distress call from Grissom Academy." She said and Wrex grunted a so what noise. "99% sure it's our current and seemingly constant dance partner, Cerberus. If that's that case…it can't wait."

Wrex sighed. "I don't know what they want with that Gun, Shep, but it ain't good. It can't wait either."

"I agree, Wrex, but we'll need the _Normandy_ to jump that far. Kodiak doesn't have the range." Sidda commented trying to think of how they were going to divide and conquer this. Tuchanka was the priority but she wasn't going to make Nov choose between that and someone he was responsible for.

"So what? Brilliant Alliance kids take priority over a weapon that can cause significant damage. They shoot that thing at Turians…or Humans and this alliance of yours might take a turn for the worst." Wrex said and Sidda cursed under her breath.

"We can handle the gun, Commander." Cerrus offered. "I'll put a team together and take the second Kodiak. When you're done with Grissom you can come back and pick us up."

Since the Krogan still were not being given a fair shake Sidda deferred to Wrex with a single look. Cerrus was one of three Turians that he trusted and he nodded. "Sounds good."

As the meeting broke up Cerrus lingered. "A moment, Commander."

The room cleared and Sidda waited. Cerrus' behavior had been a surprise. She wanted to ask him more about his resignation but talking to him was always a bit like a minefield. "What?"

"With your permission I'd like to take Cortez." He said and she furrowed her brow.

"Why?" The arrangement, thus far, was Isla was his pilot and Cortez was hers.

"You're the head of all this, Commander, the people who fly with you need to be vetted." He said and Sidda gave a half smile. "And I think I'm uniquely suited to help him." He said and Sidda understood what he was talking about. Ordinarily, she would decline any special treatment but Cerrus was turning over a new leaf, as it were.

"Boy, you have come a long way." She snorted in disbelief. "Fine, you can have him."

* * *

The majority of the Turian Barracks had mustered up and moved out, Ruvvak and Garrus were already in the Hanger and Cerrus was collecting some of his gear. He hadn't heard from Tali in a few days and that worried him. The Quarians had been too quiet but he had no messages from her on his Omni-tool.

"Major," Liara called as he passed her on the way to the lift. "my I have a moment?"

He pressed the screen for the elevator and glanced at her. "I'm gearing up for a mission, Liara."

"I understand that, which is why I wish to talk to you." She said in her polite and professional manner.

He gave her his full attention. "What's up?" he asked not wanting to be rude to her.

"I would like to go with you."

His expression narrowed. "This is not going to be a scientific mission, Liara, we're going to evict Cerberus." He said.

"I know." She said. "But I know you could use the technical help and even biotic help."

Cerrus had trained Liara for the pursuit of Saren. She wasn't a warrior like him or Ruvvak or Sidda but she was resourceful and smart. "Alright." He said making his decision, quickly. "Grab your gear. Meet us on the hanger deck."

Cerrus collected his team, Ruvvak was a given, career soldier and a demolitionist of the best caliber. Liara was a strange collection, Ruvvak barely knew her but Cerrus only picked people he knew could do the job.

"Not that I don't appreciate the change of scenery but any particular reason why I'm riding with you?" Cortez asked as Cerrus checked his weapons.

"I requested it." The Turian responded bluntly.

Cortez gave him a strange expression. "If this is about this morning, Major, I'm clearheaded…not suicidal."

Cerrus gave a slight shrug. "Prove it. Every member of my team come back alive and that includes my pilots."

Cortez wanted to protest but didn't push further. "Okay, copy that." He was being evaluated.

There was a lot of activity on the hanger deck, ships were being armed, people gearing up. Both teams had run through their objectives and familiarized themselves with callsigns.

Sidda's team was the typical one, Nov and Garrus. They were ready to go and doing the same thing that Cerrus' team was doing but on the other side of the hanger. Nov was quiet as he did a final check of his Mattock.

"Hey," Sidda said bumping into him gently with her shoulder. "you here?"

Her voice pulled him from his thoughts. "Yeah." He replied. "I'm good." He put David at Grissom because he would be safe…now that had backfired. Over the past few month the young man had come a long way in his recovery. The last time Nov visited he didn't look like the scared kid that was begging him for help and actually gave him a new program to improve his Omni-tool.

"Cal," she questioned in a lower tone as she didn't believe his quick response.

"I'm fine, Baby." He said again sounding a little more reassuring than before.

"_Commander, jump prep complete. Ready when you are."_ Joker came in over the comm.

"Understood." She replied and turned her attention to the hustle and bustle behind her. "Dev, Cortez, status?"

"Good here." Isla responded feeling a little strange that she was the pilot for Sidda and not the other resident pilot in Cortez. Cerrus had absorbed her into his team and that was by his request, taking Cortez revealed another motive she wasn't sure what it was.

"All green, Commander." Cortez answered.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, last boarding call for the Gun Run. Collect your luggage and board Kodiak number one." Sidda said like she was a flight attendant. "PTA Meeting…shuttle number two."

"Gun Run," Cerrus commented and then chuckled. "I like it."

"My goal in life." Sidda replied. "May take us a little longer to finish our mission. I don't have a good feeling about Cerberus mucking around with the Academy."

Her mission was an unknown, they didn't know what they would find and he shrugged off the fact that it may take them a little longer. "It's fine, Wrex gave us all the information we need if we need to hang out a bit." He nodded.

She sighed and looked up at the tall Turian she never thought she would have a good relationship with. "Don't get yourself killed."

He snorted. "Not exactly a ringing endorsement but I'll say likewise." He said and turned to Shuttle one, he was the last to board, just like normal.

* * *

After they launched the _Normandy _jumped into nothing, vanished where had been leaving them at the mercy of Krogan hospitality. "Alright, Lieutenant, take us in." Cerrus ordered Cortez who complied without question.

"Anything additional we should know?" Liara asked and Ruvvak tapped a few things on his Omni-tool. Ruvvak she'd briefly worked with, he was a fellow crewmate of Cerrus'. He was a demolitionist and a career NCO.

"Callsigns. If you don't remember, Doc, that's Havoc," he said pointing to Cerrus. "Blackstone."

Liara never knew Cerrus' callsign, no one used it on the _Normandy_. No one really liked Cerrus, he was hard to deal with but Liara's observation was that he enjoyed being around people he trusted. Cerrus was patient with her, she wasn't a soldier and he knew that, but she was a scientist and smarter than he was. Liara's combat tactics could firmly be attributed to paying attention to what Cerrus taught her. "Black stone…clever," she commented. "Ruvvak literally means black stone."

"I know…not very original." The Turian chuckled.

"Major, that gun is active." Cortez said and he took evasive action from it. "They're not shooting at us though. Looks like a Cerberus cruiser is on the way in."

"Wonderful." Ruvvak commented. "Who invited them?"

"They invite themselves, no matter what." Cerrus replied. "Find a place to set us down."

"If Cerberus gets a cruiser in orbit they can use the Krogan's lack of planetary defense to create a staging area for whatever they want." Liara deduced and Cerrus shook his head with irritation. He was about to make the dismantling of Cerberus his goal in life.

Cortez avoided the firing line and dropped the squad off at the edge of the old base. The attack was immediate, Cerberus saw them coming.

"So much for the element of surprise, Havoc." Ruvvak commented after fending off the initial volley of troopers.

"We never had that." Cerrus replied switching to his sniper rifle. "Liara?"

Liara had an old schematic of the base and she pulled it up on the Omni-tool. "Should be up that ramp across the way but that is a very exposed walk."

Ruvvak and Cerrus agreed with the assessment. "Looks like a rear entry here." Cerrus suggested.

Ruvvak shrugged. "More risk of an ambush better cover though."

"Shot out in the open or shot from cover." Cerrus muttered sounding cynical.

"Those our only two choices?" Liara asked and Cerrus chuckled.

"I'll take point, let's go."

Contrary to popular belief and past actions, Cerberus wasn't stupid. They knew the lower entrance was vulnerable and they deployed as such. The front of the building was the obvious entry point but it was also easy to defend. Elevated with one entry…near suicide to assault. The back was narrow, still hard to assault but it was also hard to defend. The benefit to narrow was it cut down on the number of Turret Cerberus used. That didn't mean the troops were fewer…in fact there were a lot of them. In such a small area it nullified the need for rifles. Ruvvak switched to his shotgun and Cerrus to his pistol.

Watching Cerrus and Ruvvak work together was a like watching the finest choreographed dance. They barely spoke but knew exactly were one another would be. Liara just did as he trained her back when they met. She maintained her position as support using her biotics to slow them down in singularities and stasis fields, her biotics proceeded to cause significant mayhem when applied to Cerrus' snap freeze and Ruvvak's carnage blast. Of the Turian's Liara could have come with these two were the best when the numbers were not in your favor. They were both soldiers but Ruvvak's loadout and Omni-tool set up was always geared toward being outnumbered. He had the ability to provide tripmines which people didn't think about until it was you against them.

Cerrus' combat tactics this time focused on speed, they had a smaller number but they had better training and of course his tactics. Through the armor he could feel the biotic energy from Liara and watched her cave in the face of the trooper she had to melee. Biotics was something that he could never understand, he understood the mechanics of it but bending dark energy to do your bidding wasn't something he would ever understand fully.

The last biotic explosion brought on by the stasis field that had blanketed the room literally blasted bodies out the door. "Clear?" Cerrus asked as he and Liara remained in close proximity and Ruvvak was further in the main control room.

"Clear." Ruvvak responded and checked the main entrance.

That was a hard fight even if it didn't last too long. "Everyone whole?" Cerrus managed to keep track of them for the most part but he couldn't watch them all the time. Liara was the one who was with him most of the time and she even saved him from being blindsided.

"I think I left a piece of my soul back there, Havoc." Ruvvak commented. "Those guys with the shock batons are something else. You see that rifle they're firing? Like a suped up version of the Mattock."

"Glad I paid for that armor upgrade." Liara added. "Alright, lets get this gun under control." Liara went to work to get control of the gun as Cerrus and Ruvvak made sure the area was secure.

Liara was a good addition to bring along. She was a well-rounded squad member. She could do it all to be perfectly honest. Even in a fight she could fight like a soldier. The console went dark before the override was complete. "We lost power." She said to Cerrus. "Looks like Cerberus cut it."

Cerrus grumbled. "Of course they did. Can you get it back?"

She nodded. "Yes. We'd have to manually override it at a relay station."

"Where's the junction?" Cerrus commented and Liara brought the schematic up to show him. "Back across the way. Alright, we'll go. You cover us." Cerrus ordered and the Sergeant turned away trading his Phaeston for his Mantis.

* * *

Cerrus and Liara went back the way they came up; they passed the dead troopers on the way including the one that had his face caved in by Liara. "I don't like this." She commented quietly.

"Me neither." He responded quickly. "Watch yourself."

Their location was bad for security but better for cover. The platform up the ramp was extremely exposed and the bottom had better cover but ripe for an ambush. The nagging feeling Cerrus had was vindicated as he watched Liara take a shot and stagger into cover.

He reacted the same way and ducked into cover behind a wall adjacent to her. "You okay?" he shouted to her.

The round hit her barriers and took them down but nothing more. "Yeah. Got the barrier. I'm okay."

Cerrus didn't like being exposed and growled his frustration. "Sarge?"

Ruvvak saw the entire exchange and was already homing in on the sharpshooter. "Stay in cover, hang on." Ruvvak said in their ear. He switched the view of his scope to thermal which highlighted the Cerberus Nemesis nicely. His Mantis was outfitted with the armor piercing modification, it didn't matter what it was he was shooting at, the Mantis was powerful unmodded…with the modification it would penetrate pretty much anything.

"Don't miss, Blackstone." Cerrus commented.

"When have I ever missed, Havoc?" Ruvvak replied in an even tone. He was in the sniper mentality, blocking everything out to focus. He fired and dropped the hidden enemy marksman. "Clear."

"They would have heard that." Cerrus commented now torn between escorting Liara and going back for a vulnerable teammate. "They're gonna swarm you."

Ruvvak was one of the best of the best. He was a senior NCO and strangely enough, he'd been here before. "I can handle it. Get it done, Sir." He said quickly and got to work. He saw a drop ship on the way and knew he needed to work quickly. He tossed a trip mine at the two entrances. He could hold the position but sure enough more Cerberus were dropping in. He needed to hold out long enough for the power to flipped back. Once they took the gun, mopping up Cerberus would be simple enough. Cerberus wouldn't just let them have it though. The base would been to be garrisoned and held.

"_Need a hand down there, Havoc?"_ Cortez asked over the comm.

"_No."_ Cerrus replied tightly. _"Keep an eye on that cruiser."_

The Command Center was a nightmare to contain. Two main entry points had a trip mine sitting on them but Ruvvak's Omni-tool could only deploy two at a time, so he couldn't plunk one down on a latter that led up the wall. When Cerberus came, they came in droves but there was a reason Ruvvak was one of the best NCOs still actively serving and this wasn't the first time he'd had to hold a position by himself.

Cerberus had two objectives, they needed to regain control of the control room and prevent the splinter team from getting around their stop gap of cutting the power. Ruvvak knew that and made the control room as juicy a target as he could make it.

"Drop ship, incoming. Times two." He reported, acting as spotter while in the middle of repelling an attack at the main entrance.

They found his trip mine and he took cover. He lobbed a frag grenade to the same location and then redirected his attention to the rear, more were coming from there. He pulled the knife from his boot and sucked up to the wall, the same place he'd been sucker punched before. The trooper didn't know what hit him. The second Ruvvak saw him he gave a quick stab up under the chin, no matter the armor, the neck was the most vulnerable. His strike was quick as a pit viper and the trooper dropped instantly. His next strike was into the next trooper that he advanced on him. The knife went into the chink on the thigh, humans had a major artery near the groin. Blood sprayed all over him as his Talon's blade severed the artery. When that trooper dropped Ruvvak was hit at least four times with whatever Cerberus was carrying. His shields took one of them and the rest went into his armor. The top of the line armor managed to absorb most of it but it drove him back into cover.

His Omni-tool screamed at him as his armor had been breached at his lower right side. "Ow." He groaned out and realized what he'd been hit with. A damn turret. Behind him he heard the hum of the console meaning Cerrus and Liara found their target at least. "I took some fire. Turret, rear entry. Watch yourself."

"_You okay, Blackstone?"_ Cerrus asked hearing that his fellow team member was injured.

All Cerrus heard immediately was gunfire. Cerberus put all their eggs into the Control Room basket and were swarming Ruvvak. "I'm great!" Ruvvak barked back.

Cerrus pushed on the turret was lethal force, those damn things were the most dangerous things on the field when fighting against Cerberus. So much so that the moment he saw an engineer he put a round in their head. Liara broke off from him and used her biotics to handle the swath of troopers trying to go up the access ladder. One singularity was enough to gather a bunch of them and then a warp caused a massive biotic explosion.

Before he could get to the turret, he tangled with a Centurion. They carried something that looked like a Mattock but wasn't and had decent shields, but they didn't stand much of a chance against him. This one really wasn't bad and gave Cerrus a run for his money. In a hand to hand fight the Turian had the upper hand bigger, stronger, and faster but as he had learned from Sidda, Humans were adaptable and resilient.

The Centurion resorted to the shock baton and hit Cerrus in the chest. The Turian's armor absorbed it all and Cerrus stripped it from him during the ensuing fight the Centurion's helmet came off. The horror underneath was barely human and Cerrus seized the opportunity to shove the shock baton in his eye. If it didn't kill him, he'd certainly wish it had.

Liara's biotics, like Sidda's, were extremely valuable, between the two of them they were able to draw the attention of Cerberus and split their focus. Liara's singularities and subsequent biotic explosions left a hell of a mess where Cerberus used to be. Cerrus employed the cryo blast to incapacitate the turret long enough to destroy the damn thing.

"Sarge!" Cerrus shouted up the ramp as the shooting suddenly stopped.

Ruvvak hadn't taken any more hits but the one that did hit him hurt like hell. "Clear." He responded and dropped his hand to the wound in his side. "I feel like I've been shot by a damn mortar."

"Let me take a look." Liara said and Ruvvak waved her off.

"I'll live." He replied. "I got medigel already on the case. What do you say we give that Cerberus cruiser a wave off and get the hell out of here?"

* * *

Cerberus was indeed at Grissom Academy; it was a cruiser and several fighters as a blockade escort. The _Normandy_ wasn't big enough to take them all on so Sidda took the shuttle and conducted a stealth entrance at a cargo port.

"Leave it to these bastards to attack a school." Garrus commented.

"Told you, you should have gotten out of bed with them a long time ago." Nov said as they cycled the airlock.

"Yeah. I know, I made a mistake." She replied bitterly. "You have an opinion. Adrien has an opinion. Joker has one and Garrus has one too but it doesn't help me very much right now, now does it?"

The tension, Garrus could feel, Cerberus was a mistake they all made but hindsight was 20/20. They didn't have a choice in the matter of working with them since the alternative wasn't acceptable. "We all made it." Garrus said providing support to Sidda.

Nov was worried and that made him a little unfiltered and grumpy. "I didn't and now the whole damn galaxy is paying for it."

Sidda's glare could have burned him. He wasn't saying anything she hadn't said herself but now wasn't the time for this. Nov was angry but mostly worried about someone that he felt responsible for. He found David in that hell hole and after seeing the memories of how it all went wrong he had had a deep connection to him. While Sidda was sequestered on Earth and he was bouncing around the galaxy like a interspecies, Council Spectre beach ball he keep close tabs on David's progress.

After the Doctors rehabilitated him to the point he could go to the academy it took two or three visits before David would even look at him. He remembered who he was, the VI construct was an interest bridge, but it did the trick, and remembered that he was the only one who stopped and listened and then helped him.

"Do you remember who I am, David?" he asked the brilliant but traumatized young man.

"Spectre Callus Nov." he replied but still wouldn't look at him. Nov didn't pretend to understand the mental condition David had but the key was patience and understanding. Mostly, this kid needed a brother that didn't take advantage of him. "_Normandy SR-2._ 'Hang in there, Kid, I'm going to help you'." He went on staying the exact words Nov said when he was in the VI construct.

Nov smiled. "That's right."

"Cal," Sidda's voice began and pulled him from his memory.

"What?" he replied in a testy manner as the security door opened. The woman they had been talking to he was familiar with. She didn't bother him on a good day but today was not a good day. "Dr. Sanders." Nov greeted, curtly and the woman blinked.

"Spectre Nov," she greeted. "David's on board still."

"I know. Where is he?"

She looked from Nov to Sidda and then to Garrus. Odd bunch to come to the rescue but Shepard was someone Anderson trusted so she put her faith in that. "All the students that remained on board are with our remaining instructors."

"Why were they here in the first place? The galaxy is in the middle of a war." Nov snipped sounding a little more irritated about the situation.

"The students wanted to help. How could we tell them no?"

"Did you try no?" Nov's professionalism went up in flames and Sidda stepped in.

"Cal, stop." Sidda ordered and her mate glared at her. She was right but the glare still remained. "How many?"

"About 12 total, biotics and engineers." She replied. "Most everyone else we managed to evacuate."

"Should be able to get everyone on one Kodiak." Garrus commented and Sidda nodded. "Tight fit but it'll work."

Nov had been to Grissom a few times since placing David here so he knew his way to Orion Hall once he found his bearings. "Christ," Sidda commented as they watched a student being drug away by Cerberus. There was no way they could get to them from their position but it irritated Nov and Garrus.

"Can you believe this shit?" Garrus said and Sidda scoffed.

"These fuckers attack a school…" Nov grumbled. "I swear, Sid, I find the Illusive Man I'm gonna shove an arch grenade up his ass."

"Come on, guys, move on." Sidda added attempting to refocus not only herself but her Turian entourage as well.

As they moved through the corridors and classrooms they could hear Cerberus spewing propaganda. Bullshit about them being there to help and family members being missing or dead. Garrus had a pet peeve about propaganda over loudspeakers, especially when it was coming from Cerberus. "I'm gonna put a bullet between that bastards eyes." He muttered as they ushered two kids to safety…or at least back to Sanders.

Orion Hall was enormous and practically deserted. The last time Nov was there it filled with students, Grissom housed thousands of students and it pestered him to no end that some of them were still on board. They found the stranded biotic students and they were being watched over by none other than the Psychotic Biotic herself, Jack. The surprise that Jack was there was because no one would have guessed she'd have been tapped as a teacher or any sort. Nov snorted and couldn't wait to see Ruvvak's reaction when he was told he missed the opportunity to rescue Jack.

Her wardrobe and hair had improved but her attitude hadn't. Jack walked straight up to Sidda and punched her for not seeing through Cerberus' lies like everyone else had.

Nov didn't see David in the group and that irritated him greatly. He'd lost enough over the past few days; colony, family, unshakeable faith in his beloved. David wasn't someone he was going to lose…not after taking it upon himself to look after him. "Jack," he called interrupting her bitching about Cerberus again. "where's David Archer?"

Jack glowered at him. "Looking for a date, Cal?"

He wasn't in the mood. "Don't jerk me around, Jack, where the hell is he?"

"Not here." She snapped back in reply. "He was with another group in the engineering lab."

As Sidda got the rundown of the situation Garrus' comm chirped. _"Archangel, do you read?" _Isla said and Garrus turned his attention to her.

"Yeah, go ahead."

"_That cruiser is on the way back. ETA 2 minutes. I'm not going to be able to hang out much longer safely."_

Garrus sighed, they found most of the students but David wasn't one of them. "It's gonna take us too long to get back. Did you get the other students we sent?"

"_Yep, Sanders collected a few more as well. What do you want me to do?"_

Garrus didn't bother to ask Sidda her opinion, there was only one. They couldn't get back in two minutes and they weren't done with their mission anyway. "Take off. Get back to the _Normandy_ we can find an alternate route out." He said and then turned to Sidda. "Sid. We have a development."

* * *

One thing everyone agreed with was that next fight was awful. Too many turrets, too many engineers, and to top it off…an Atlas. The Atlas, to be honest, wasn't even the hardest part. They fought their way through the first half of the atrium from hell and turned the Atlas to scrap. Garrus and his large bore sniper rifle gave not only the pilot of the Atlas something to think about but the Guardian troopers with the riot shields as well. It was almost laugh out loud funny the first time his shot went _through_ the shield and took off the soldiers head. The rest of the scattered and threw curses about the sniper in position. He also managed to penetrate the canopy of the Atlas but it only injured the pilot, Sidda did the rest with the pilot and Garrus hit the power coil on it's back causing it to explode. The other half of the atrium was harder and it didn't even have an Atlas. It did have six…count them…_six_ turrets.

Nov was putting his tech skills to use, namely his hack and overload. He really was the best engineer in the galaxy as he hacked two turrets at once and got them to shoot at each other. Jack and the biotics rained down from above which was an immeasurable help. Sidda and her biotics were as destructive as they came. Once in a while she just let loose and displayed exactly how deadly she really was now that Cerberus gave her an upgrade.

When the fighting stopped Nov and Sidda were slow to get up. Nov got into a close quarters fight with three troopers near the back the atrium. There had to have been a broken rib or so because his entire torso hurt. His right arm hurt too as he used it to get up off the ground. "Ow." He grunted and ground his teeth.

Sidda picked up several clips and reloaded all her weapons. With as much biotics she just used she could feel her implant, she'd sleep for a while after this and would have a stress headache by the time she got back to the ship. Normal side effects of continuous use. "Jack, everyone okay up there?" she asked and rubbed the spot she knew the headache would be.

"We're fine. Rodriguez took a hit because she didn't watch her barrier." Jack replied as she was obviously chastising the young girl at the same time.

"Keep moving and stay safe up there." She said and grimaced as she moved.

Garrus switched over to his Mattock and noticed Sidda's body language. "Sid, you okay?"

"Yeah…sure." She replied and notice Nov slow to get up and appeared injured. "Cal,"

He grimaced and growled but took a moment to collect himself. "I'm fine." He replied but wasn't convincing at all. "I'll be fine anyway. Those guys with the riot shields should all be spaced…damn."

"Did you get a load of the pistol they're using?" Garrus said. "Like a mini shotgun…ripped right through the shields."

* * *

Nov's chest hurt; he knew a rib had to be broken even through his armor. Last time someone hurt him through his armor it was a Yahg and that Yahg hit him with a desk hard enough to nearly kill him.

Sidda noticed his body language. "Babe, you alright?"

"I think I broke a rib." He replied and leaned against the wall before they pressed on. Broken ribs hurt on anyone but they hurt a lot on a Turian, they had more ribs, their bones were hollow and hard to break but they had in increased lung capacity. His chest had to expand further and it hurt like a bitch.

Her eyes gave him an up and down glance. "Well, pace yourself, Baby, I need you in one piece."

"Just be gentle with me." He said with a wink and they moved on.

They were on a timetable, they needed to keep moving and get the kids to safety and off this station. Luckily, most of the students got off the station before it all went to hell. They found the biotic students but there were engineering ones as well that they needed to find.

"When was the last time you saw David?"

"Couple weeks ago. He gave me an experimental program for my omni-tool. Doubled its efficiency." He said and she chuckled.

"You are going to be a good Dad." She said and appreciated the thought. The signal from Garrus cut their conversation off and they moved to the left against the wall.

"Contact." Garrus said. "Three Cerberus. Kids inside a shield, looks like they modified a pylon."

"That's David…behind the pylon." Nov said and Sidda put a hand on his shoulder to make him stop.

"I got it." She said and her biotic aura appeared. "Hey!" she barked getting their attention and she tapped into the dark energy. The reave field smacked them all before they could react to her presence. It was a rush as the nature of the biotic power gave her a significant boost, the pain in her head from all the power use went away…it almost felt like a high. The power cut right through their armor and they screamed in pain. She successfully incapacitated all of them at once and she nearly growled like a predator. Three shots went by her head and ended her biotic rush as those she was sucking the life from died from Garrus and Nov.

There were three students in the shield including David. Sidda's biotic aura lingered as she was still absorbing power. It was something to witness really. "Drop the shield. We're friendly." Nov said and the woman looking like she was ready to fight kept her guard up.

"I don't think so." She snapped. "I didn't buy it from them, I'm not buying it from you."

Nov gave her a look. "Do I look like Cerberus?"

"The square root of 906.02 is-…"

"30.1." Nov finished.

"Hello, Callus." David said finally looking up at him. His Autism didn't handle a lot of commotion at the same time. He'd gotten better at it over time but a way for him to rest was the same thing he said when he was locked away in the Overlord contraption.

"David, drop the shield. It's okay." He said and the shield came down.

"It's alright, Octavia." David said to the woman still ready to defend. "Callus is my guardian and person who saved my life." He said and Nov was amazing by his behavior. This place had been very good for him.

If Nov heard nothing else from him for the rest of his life he would be content with the ones he just heard. He saved a young man from a situation was would have most certainly killed him. That was his job, to help those who needed it. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Garrus. Commander Shepard." He acknowledged.

"He looks better." Garrus commented.

"I am better. Thanks to you. All of you." He said and moved over to the security door behind him. "They are taking people. Wanting to turn them, change them."

Nov was following him both trying to keep tabs on him and figure out what he was doing. "We know. We're going to get everyone out. You know who Jack is?"

"Yes." He said and fiddled with the lock on the door. The lock went from orange to green and

"She has the biotic kids on the upper level you'll be safe with her." He told him and finally asked the question. "What are you doing."

"The Security office. You need weapons and supplies." He told him and Nov gave smile.

"Proud of you, Kid." He smiled and patted his arm. "Get upstairs and stay with Jack, take those two with you."

"Of course." He nodded. "Be careful, Callus."

* * *

Sanders was able to procure two shuttles, between Jack and Sidda they put on enough of a biotic display to dazzle the students. Jack was by far more powerful but Sidda had more control. Garrus stole a damaged Atlas and together created one of the messiest fights to take place in a school yard. There were injuries but everyone made it safety. The two shuttles were packed full and the long-standing station of Grissom was abandon. One more reason to exterminate Cerberus, there was no telling how many people they kidnapped or killed in their bid to disrupt the station.

Space on the _Normandy_ was at a premium now. They couldn't do anything else but head to the Citadel or the ship itself was going to run out of supplies.

"You wanna go pick up Elysium refugees as well?" Victus asked as the shuttles unloaded twenty more people to the _Normandy._

"Funny, Adrien."

Her tone reflected her irritation and he reversed his track. Now was not the time for the smart ass as she was clearly at the end of her rope. "You get everyone?"

"The ones we could get. Who know how many Cerberus made off with before we could get there and don't start back on the Cerberus Parade, frankly, I'm tired of hearing everyone bitching about it." She snipped and Victus cocked his head to the attitude. "James!" she called and the Lieutenant gave her his attention. "Alright, listen up," now address everyone who just arrived. "if you need food or medical attention go with Lieutenant Vega. Cal, you too."

Nov didn't argue. His armor kept the pain down but as soon as it came off it was going to hurt like hell. "Don't mind if I do."

He touched her arm on the way by. The past few weeks had been rough and it wasn't getting any better. "You hear from Cerrus?" she asked Victus.

"Yeah. They took the gun. Krogan First Division is securing it."

"Everyone whole?"

"Ruvvak took a hit but he's okay."

"Fantastic." She muttered sarcastically. "Garrus, head up to the CIC and tell Joker to get us to Tuchanka ricky-tick and then then back the Citadel before we run out of air."

Garrus chuckled to the acknowledgement that they were way over the _Normandy's_ approved capacity. As he obeyed her request Victus assumed that they were all leaving the steadily emptying hanger deck but Sidda didn't follow. Instead she looked drained and sat down on the floor at Cortez's console.

"Sid, are you alright?" Victus asked.

She had her hands over her face and looked like she was trying not to lose composure. "How the hell am I supposed to fight two enemies at once?" she asked but it wasn't a question that needed an answer. "How am I supposed to focus on stopping the Reapers from destroying the galaxy planet by planet when I'm having to go to schools and save students from be kidnapped by Cerberus for their sick experiments? I caused all of this. I pissed off the Reapers and I gave Cerberus free rein to do whatever the fuck they want by not firebombing the organization when I had the chance."

The venting session ended when she said that. "No." Victus said emphatically. "They Reapers were coming no matter what you just gave us a fighting chance and as for Cerberus…" he said crouching down in front of her.

"What? I worked with them…gave them credibility."

"And we will succeed in shutting those bastards down." He told her. She didn't need someone telling her everything she'd done wrong or even some telling her everything she'd done right. She needed someone to tell her that it wasn't her against the universe. It was them against the universe. Nov should be the one boosting her confidence but he wasn't sure how damaged their relationship was now. "You are not alone in this fight, Sidda, I promise you that. The Turians will aid Earth and you can always count on me." She appreciated the effect that he had on her, maybe it was the General talking or the person who still loved her but his confidence and faith in her made the bad stuff feel just a little bit better. He stood up straight and offered his hand she took it and he hauled her to her feet. "Now we don't need you to get us to Tuchanka and then to the Citadel. You look tired…go get some rest."

* * *

Gathering Cerrus' team was simple enough, but his team didn't come back unscathed, Ruvvak's would was pretty serious despite the fact he was brushing it off. Liara got him to medical leaving Cerrus in the hanger with Cortez on the Kodiak.

"I assume I passed, Sir." Cortez commented as Cerrus was collecting gear from the Kodiak. Most just left it to the pilot or deck crew but Cerrus wasn't like most people. There was blood on the deck from Ruvvak and an open med kit.

Cerrus spared him a glance. "Passed what?"

The pilot continued his post flight check. "The psych and combat evaluation you put me through. Deciding if I'm all there enough to ferry Shepard around."

Cerrus did request him to be his pilot this time and he was trying to gauge his mental status. He obeyed orders and was a self-starter. Not the hallmarks of someone who's mind was going around the bend. Cerrus had suffered the same kind of loss Cortez had and he knew what to look for. The scene in the bay earlier raised some warning but the pilot was right, for all intents and purposes he did pass. "Wasn't really a test, more of an observation. Carrying trauma like that into combat can get people killed. Trust me, I know that from personal experience." He said and Cortez turned his attention to him. It surprised Cerrus to see that the Human wasn't offended, he just accepted the feedback. "You obey orders and you do your job well…keep that up and you and I will get along fine."

Cortez was still puzzled by him. Cerrus had the reputation people liked to a monster. He was anti-human and never tied to hide it. He'd heard the warnings and seen the grouchy and prickly attitude, but he genuinely seemed to care about Cortez's mental wellbeing. "You know that I think?" he began. "I think that reputation of yours is all smoke. You genuinely care about the people you work with no matter their species."

Cerrus paused and glanced over to him. Kaidan had told him something similar that he wasn't sure he believed then, now, for the first time the thought of caring for a Human that wasn't his friend Kaidan Alenko didn't offend him.

* * *

Medical was crowded and Chakwas only kept those who needed the supervision. Tarquin, Banna, and Silix were joined by Ruvvak, Nov, and Rodriguez. The Turian contingent was certainly represented.

"Well, aren't we a merry band." Ruvvak commented as Liara deposited him into Chakwas' care. "What are you in for?" he asked Nov who had his shirt off and was sitting on the bed to his right.

"Busted rib." He muttered and then hissed as Mordin was a little less than gentle with the topical pain reliever. "Damn, Doc, easy."

"Minor rib fracture. More painful for Turian due to increased lung capacity." Mordin said and Nov's expression was that of amused pain.

"Thank you. Of course me being Turian I have a rather good knowledge of our physiology." He said and then grunted again to the continuing treatment.

"Apologies. Assumed Turians were tough." Mordin shot back.

Nov wasn't offended, in fact he was rather amused. Ruvvak laughed and Chakwas tended to him. "The medigel was applied correctly, Sergeant." Chakwas said after a few moments. "Lay back, I'll take a scan."

"I'm alright, Doc." Ruvvak said but Chakwas had heard that before from every soldier she'd ever treated.

Nov endured the bandage Mordin applied and groaned. It was meant to stabilize the broken rib, something Nov was familiar with but Mordin's bedside matter left something to be desired. "You are free to go."

The rec room was packed, the biotic students and the engineering students were checked by medical and now being fed by some of the _Normandy _crew and a few of the Blackwatch members.

David's interaction with others showed great progress and Nov notice that he interacted the best with Octavia, the young girl that challenged Nov. He didn't say anything to him and attempted to leave them in peace.

"Callus," David began, and Nov turned back toward him to give him his full attention. "Thank you. It is the second time you've saved my life. I will have to save your life someday."

Nov shook his head and put a hand on his right shoulder. "You don't owe me anything, David. It's not a competition. I promised I'd protect you. I have to go but if you need anything, call me or Sid. We should be to the Citadel soon."

* * *

Fixing up Ruvvak wasn't going to be too difficult. The immediate application of the Medigel and the first aid provided by Liara went a long way to ensuring that he wasn't going to be sidelined for too long.

"Just couldn't wait to get my clothes off could you, Doc?" Ruvvak teased and Chakwas gave him the smirking smile she gave every soldier who said that to her.

"That's what all of the strapping young soldiers say, Sergeant."

"None of them were Turian I bet." He replied and felt the wound start to mend under the laser. "Ow.." he growled through the pain that the analgesic didn't catch.

"It'll just hurt for a moment, Sergeant, I apologize." She replied and she was right, Ruvvak didn't feel anything after the initial contact.

"Call me Linus." He said and after a few minutes the procedure was over.

"Rest here for a few, Linus. Should be a full recovery but I want to keep an eye on you." She told him and he didn't argue.

As Chakwas moved onto other patients Ruvvak rested. She was working on the lone human girl who had a injury to her right arm. Chakwas had a good bedside manner, no matter who she was working on. The female Krogan stayed silent at the far end of the room. Mordin, the busy body Salarian amused him, he was supposed to be working on a cure to the Genophage but when an influx of patients arrived he helped out then returned to his work. Ruvvak could say that he'd never really seen a female Krogan before but she kept to herself as stayed out of the way.

The door to his left opened and he recognized the woman. Jack looked a little different from the last time he saw her. Longer hair, different wardrobe, and her body language looked better too. "They told me they picked you up." He said and Jack's attention shifted to him from Rodriguez.

Rather than rebuff him she approached his bed. "Yeah, just checking on one of my kids."

"Do you remember me?" he asked and the volatile biotic nodded.

"Ruvvak or something right?"

Ruvvak nearly smiled, the first time he met her he was intrigued by her then he saw her fight and wanted to get to know her more. She brushed him off each time he tried to talk to her until now. "Yeah. Call me Linus." He said and expected her to grunt and walk away but she didn't.

"That's easier to say…what the fucks a ruvvak anyway?"

He laughed lightly. "It means black stone. Volcanic rock on Palaven." He answered, it wasn't the first time he'd translated his last name to the laymen. "You're an instructor at Grissom?"

"Yeah…goddamn Shepard rubbed off on me." She answered and noticed the bandage on his side. "What happened to you?"

"Got between Cerberus and their target." Jack hated Cerberus, that much he was aware of, but he wasn't totally clear as to why. If she let him he'd get to know that gradually. "Don't worry though, Cerberus body count is going to be pretty high today."

Jack gave him a smile. "That's what I like to hear." She said and then decided that it was time to go. She felt awkward, like when did she let her guard down enough to have such a civil conversation awkward. "I gotta go…I'll see you later."

He didn't try to stop her. Jack needed space and for someone not to push too hard too fast. "Jack," he called. "I'll buy you a drink when we get to the Citadel." She nodded slightly but it wasn't an affirmation or a deny. She wasn't used to being asked out lease of all asked out by a Turian.

* * *

Sidda came out of the QEC room and found Victus entering from the other side. She tapped a few things on the center console, mostly looking at the networked feed of the state of the galaxy. The Alliance was in tatters but they'd gotten a headcount for ships and colonies that were both not under and under attack. Turian telemetry was still a mess but it was sufficient to say they were in one of three places: Palaven, The Citadel, or Gammae. The Asari and the Salarians had no real change, the Reapers hadn't sat on them yet and the Batarians were totally dark.

"I thought I sent you to bed." Victus commented pulling her focus from the sad state of affairs.

"Okay, Dad." He gave her a look that made her snort.

"Don't call me that." He said with a painful expression, he honestly was old enough to be her father.

Sidda chuckled to his response. She was a seasoned biotic master, after the hardest fight on Elysium she could handle a tough fight on Grissom. She was tired but not depleted. Nov entered and her concern shifted to him. "You okay?"

Nov hid the urge to bristle at Victus in proximity of his wife but nodded. "Broken rib. Mordin's bedside manner is more painful."

She snorted her amusement. "How's the rest of the menagerie?"

"Ruvvak insists that he's fine. Chakwas is working on him now. David and the biotic kids they all checked out." He reported as Vega was the last to arrive. "Biotic girl, Rodriguez, took one in the arm but she'd gonna be fine."

It had been a very busy day and a pretty bad day for Cerberus. "ETA to the Citadel is about three hours." Victus informed and began the little meeting. "We can drop off the passengers and head back out. Mordin's not finished with he cure yet so we can't further the plot until then."

Sidda had put things in motion for the passengers they'd acquired, at least the Human ones. "I spoke to Hackett, he's going to take the engineering students and put them with the Crucible and the Shield fleet." Nov didn't argue and she was impressed by his restraint. He was either okay with it or would voice his opinion loudly later.

"What about Grissom, we can't just let Cerberus keep it." Vega asked and he had a point. Sidda was certain some people were left behind, and that cruiser was up to no good.

"Hackett sent the _SSV Seattle_ to reclaim it and sweep for anyone left behind if they can without drawing the attention of the Reapers at Elysium."

"I tasked the _Vorash _as well_, _only a frigate but should provide some support." Victus added. "We need to get some traction on the Reapers…stop fighting Cerberus."

"Well, why don't you tell them that?" she replied with a snap. It was hard enough trying to figure out how to fight the Reapers without tripping over Cerberus every step of the way.

"I'm working on sending them a message." The Primarch replied.

* * *

_**Note: Thanks for reading! Comments welcome!**_


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